What I Want
by bearbrand
Summary: Kyousuke's going to have to reconsider what he really wants.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own this series. That makes me really sad.

Notes: This will be a Kyousuke x Kirino story, so if that's your squick... well, you can't say I didn't warn you. Also, thanks to Vercingetorix1234 for helping me clean this chapter.

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><p>Kyousuke woke up with a start.<p>

"A dream. Just a dream," he mumbled. He took a deep breath and was just about to feel relieved when he felt something. Kyousuke looked under his blanket and groaned. Apparently, the dream had had after-effects.

He dragged himself out of bed and into the bathroom. Kyousuke hissed as the first spray of ice cold water touched his skin. Taking a cold shower so early in the morning annoyed him, but it was incredibly effective so he did it anyway.

His mother greeted him in the kitchen. "Kyousuke, you're early again! Lately, you've been getting up earlier and earlier. Your first class must be really exciting."

There was no way he was going to admit the real reason why he was waking up so early these days so he just mumbled something in agreement. As he sat down to eat, his sister entered the room.

"Good morning, Mom. What's for breakfast?" Kirino said in a cheerful tone.

Kyousuke noticed the lack of greeting toward him but decided not to be bothered by it. After all, he was used to it.

He eyed his sister while taking a bite out of his sandwich. Kirino may have been in her first year of college, but Kyousuke thought that a lot of things about her still hadn't changed. Like the fact that she still enjoyed playing eroge and often coerced him into doing the same, all in the name of 'life counselling.' Or the fact that she still dyed her hair in that unusual color which, oddly enough, suited her quite well.

And those shorts. Kyousuke thought that his sister really needed to get new pairs of shorts to wear at home. He resolved to get her a pair for her birthday but decided not to almost immediately afterward. God knows how she'd react if he did that.

But he still thought that Kirino needed a new pair of shorts. Preferably a pair that was knee-length or even longer.

"Shorts," he said suddenly.

Kirino, startled, looked up from her cereal bowl and gave him an odd look.

"What are you talking about?"

"You should buy yourself a new pair."

"Why?"

"They're too short."

Kirino smirked at him. "That's why they're called shorts, remember?"

Kyousuke didn't know what to say to that. He decided to delay his response by taking a sip from his juice.

"And why are you thinking about my clothes anyway?" Kirino continued. "Gross!"

To be honest, he didn't know either.

Kyousuke chose not to answer and finished his drink instead. He picked up his bag from the couch and turned to leave.

"See you later, Mom, Kirino."

He heard his Mother's farewell and, as expected, nothing from his sister as he closed the door.

Kyousuke sighed as he started his daily walk toward the train station. Though everything was going normally for him right now (which he felt he should be proud of), he still felt as though something was lacking. He did not know what was missing in his ordinary life, but he resolved to think about it at a more appropriate time.

* * *

><p>The more appropriate time turned out to be during his third class. As the professor's monotone voice droned on, Kyousuke mulled over his previous thoughts that morning. Something was lacking.<p>

He briefly reviewed his life. He was currently a senior in college under a business course. He wasn't failing his subjects but he wasn't doing that great either. He did just enough to get by and not be noticed by the professors or the other students. He didn't have many friends but he didn't think he was a complete loser either. He knew that everything about him seemed so ordinary, so average, but that was exactly what he was striving for, since being 'normal' was his ultimate goal in life.

So if things were exactly the way he wanted them to be, what could be missing?

Kyousuke sighed and dropped his head into his folded arms. It was a big class so he knew, or at least he hoped, that the professor in front wouldn't notice him. He was certain that he wouldn't feel at peace until he found out what was bothering him.

As he turned his head to the side, something caught his eye. It was two of his classmates sitting quite close to each other and doodling in the same notebook. Every now and then the boy would write something with an impish grin and the girl in turn would read it and giggle. Kyousuke rolled his eyes.

But then his eyes widened and he abruptly sat up straight, startling some of the other students. He now knew what was missing in his life. He thought about it some more and came to the conclusion that, indeed, what was sorely lacking in his life lay in the romance department.

Kyousuke recounted his previous conversations with his other friends. Yes, most of his friends had had a relationship (or relationships, if he remembered correctly). At the very least they already had someone in mind. It was, apparently, normal for their age.

Kyousuke nodded to himself. If it was the normal thing, then he wanted it.

* * *

><p>Kyousuke walked towards the lunch table he and Manami usually shared. She had been his best friend since he was a kid and was also studying in the same school but under a different program. They still met for lunch regularly and went home together, if their schedules permitted it. Manami also spent a lot of time in the school library, and Kyousuke often joined her there especially when an exam was coming up.<p>

Kyousuke was surprised when he approached their table and saw someone else sitting there instead of Manami.

"Kohei?"

The man sitting on Manami's usual spot looked up from his plate. "Oy, Kyousuke! How's it been?" he said with an enthusiastic grin.

"Kohei! How are you? Where've you been? I haven't seen you for a while!" Kyousuke eagerly replied as he sat down.

"I'm good! Just got back yesterday from that class trip I was telling you about. So, you and Manami going out already?" Kohei playfully asked.

"I've said this before, she's like my grandmother! No way I'd get together with her," Kyousuke stated as he started digging in to his lunch tray. "But you know, I've been thinking earlier, I really do need to start going out with someone. Everyone I know is dating, including you. The problem is I don't know anyone who would be willing to go out with me."

Kyousuke protested as his friend threw a crumpled tissue at him.

"Idiot!" Kohei exclaimed. "Manami's had a crush on you since high school. Maybe even since middle school!"

"Seriously? Stop joking and don't say those kind of things about her."

"I'm serious! Look, you want a girlfriend right? She's right there waiting for you to make a move!"

"Wha-"

"Kyou-chan! Oh, Kohei, you're here too."

Kyousuke whirled around when he heard Manami's voice. He hoped that she hadn't overheard their earlier conversation because it would be really embarrassing if she had.

"Kohei, how have you been? How was your trip?" Manami asked as she took a seat, setting down her lunch tray on the table.

As his two friends talked, Kyousuke pondered about what his friend had said about Manami. He didn't really think that Manami liked him in the same way that Kohei believed. But she had always been nice to him and had always been there for him throughout everything, and Kyousuke thought that meant she really cared about him. Maybe he should try asking her out. He'd never really thought about her in that way, but maybe once they started dating, he'd change his mind.

"Kyou-chan, what about you? How was your morning?" Manami's voice broke through his thoughts.

"The usual," he automatically responded. "I fell asleep during the first one, then took a surprise exam, which really surprised me by the way, for the second, and..."

Kyousuke trailed off, suddenly remembering his previous decision.

"Manami, what are you doing this weekend?" he asked.

"Huh? Nothing really special, I was going to do a bit of research for that paper I was telling you about."

Kyousuke recalled that the due date for that paper was still a long way ahead. "Want to watch a movie? Then maybe we can eat somewhere afterward." He smiled at Manami. Contrary to what he had heard, asking out a girl on a date seemed to be rather easy. Then again, maybe it was because it was his best friend he was asking.

Manami suddenly blushed. "I w-would love to, Kyou-chan. That would be really nice!"

From the corner of his eye, he saw Kohei trying to stifle his laughter with his hand. Kyousuke was also amused to note that Manami was turning redder with every word that she spoke. He decided to talk about something else for the meantime.

"So anyway, about that exam..."

* * *

><p>"I'm home," Kyousuke said to no one in particular as he toed off his shoes. He knew that nobody was home right now but he still felt like saying it, for ritual's sake.<p>

After getting a glass of his regular drink, he headed upstairs to his room and immediately lay down on his bed. He stretched, flexing his arms and his back, and scratched his chin. He wondered what movie he and Manami should watch and where they should eat. They hadn't been able to talk about it earlier since all they had agreed on was where and when they should meet. He made a mental note to call her later and closed his eyes for a moment.

When Kyousuke opened his eyes again, it was already night time. He had accidentally fallen asleep. He heard his mother setting up the dining table and, after stretching for a bit, went down to help her.

After dinner, he decided to call Manami. While setting the details for their date (_I'm actually going out on a date_, he thought), he heard a thump by his door. He told Manami to hold for a while and opened his door. He was just in time to see his sister enter her own room.

Kyousuke shrugged and went back to his conversation with Manami. They agreed to meet after lunch the next day at the movie theater, where they would decide what to watch on the spot.

He hung up the phone with a goofy smile on his face, thinking that this was what having a normal girlfriend was like. He didn't really think much about love and all that sentimental stuff, but the few times that he did, he'd always thought that Manami would be the ideal girlfriend to have. She was sweet, kind, and (most importantly) extremely normal.

Kyousuke paused when he heard a loud noise coming from one of his walls, as if a heavy object had been thrown at it. He was just about to ignore it when it happened again. _What's she up to now?_ he thought, looking at the wall as if it could answer him.

He heard the word "idiot" muttered from the other side. , He placed a hand on the thin wall separating them, considering whether he should approach his sister or not. After listening for a few moments and hearing nothing else, he settled on just asking his sister in the morning.

End of chapter 1

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><p>Thanks for reading and please leave a comment!<p> 


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: Again, I do not own Oreimo.

**Part 2**

"You know, I've never watched a movie with my sister."

Manami looked at Kyousuke curiously. "But that's understandable, Kyou-chan. You don't spend much time together after all, especially not now that she's quite busy with her career."

"Yeah, well..." Kyousuke trailed off, not really knowing where he was going with this. "It just seems weird that I don't know what kind of movies she likes to watch. Or if she likes to watch them at all."

"If her career goes well, Kyou-chan, she might actually get to star in one herself," Manami replied as she looked at the movie schedule. It was the day of their date and they were in the local theater. Kyousuke had graciously offered to let Manami choose whichever movie she wanted to watch, assuring her that he was fine with whatever she picked.

Manami finally chose a light-hearted romantic comedy and Kyousuke went to get the traditional cinema popcorn.

As they took their seats and settled down to watch the movie, Kyousuke wondered what it would be like to have a movie star for a sister. He supposed it wouldn't be too different from his situation right now. After all, his sister was already very popular due to her career as a model. As a testimony to her flourishing career, she had recently done a TV commercial for a popular local clothing brand. It was her first break into television after years of doing magazine advertisements and everyone in the family was very proud of her, including Kyousuke.

In fact, unbeknownst to Kirino, he had been following his sister's career quite closely over the years. He would die before he admitted to anybody that he had a copy of every magazine Kirino was featured in and a cd containing her commercial hidden under his bed. He winced as he wondered what their mother thought of it whenever she cleaned his room. He knew it probably looked slightly suspicious, but he justified it by the fact that it was at least hidden well away from his porn stash, which he had moved to his cabinet.

Kyousuke gazed at the screen and tried to imagine his sister playing the lead role in this movie. But then he shook his head and tried to will the image away. The female lead was currently eating in a restaurant with a male character, and the scene suggested a romantic setting. The thought of Kirino, his beautiful young sister, dating a man was unpleasant.

Manami saw his brief movement and looked at him quizzically.

"It's nothing," he assured her, and offered her some popcorn.

* * *

><p>"I don't know what kind of ice cream she likes either," Kyousuke said, frowning at his chocolate sundae. He rescued the cherry that was slipping off to the side and placed it on a napkin. He didn't like cherries.<p>

"Well, Kyou-chan, what flavor do you think she would like?" Manami asked, dipping into her own plain vanilla ice cream.

"She seems more like the strawberry type, you know," Kyousuke pondered as he sat back in his chair. They were in an ice cream parlor a couple of blocks away from the theater. After the movie, Kyousuke and Manami had walked around the area, looking for a place to sit down and snack. Kyousuke had initially wanted to go somewhere quiet but a few minutes after they had placed their orders, a group of young teenagers had entered. By that time, he hadn't minded since the ice cream was quite good.

"Or maybe vanilla, just like yours, except that hers would have lots and lots of candy sprinkles and marshmallows and chocolate syrup," he continued.

"Maybe you should just ask her?" Manami suggested tentatively.

"And get punched in the face? No thanks," he scoffed.

"Why would she punch you for asking that?"

"I don't know either. It's just something she does."

"Okay then," Manami said, taking a deep breath, "what do you think about the movie?"

Kyousuke looked up from his sundae. "What?" he said blankly.

"The movie that we just saw, Kyou-chan," she patiently replied.

"Oh, that. Yeah, well, it was sort of funny you know."

"Hmm, I thought so too. And the part where they kept going out on dates that always turned out to be horrible disasters..." Manami trailed off as she saw Kyousuke blankly staring at his sundae. "Kyou-chan?"

"Kyou-chan?" she repeated when he didn't look up. She lightly touched his hand across the table.

"What? Oh! Sorry, sorry," Kyousuke said, clearly startled by Manami's touch. He moved his hand from under hers and grabbed his spoon. Scooping into his ice cream, he said, "You were talking about the dating scenes? Yeah, hilarious."

"Kyou-chan..." Manami began in a concerned tone. "Is something wrong? You seem a bit out of it today."

Kyousuke shook his head. "No, I'm fine."

"Are you sure? Do you maybe want to go home early?"

"No, I'm really, really fine," he insisted.

Just then, his phone rang. Kyousuke looked at the screen and saw his mother's name flashing.

"Mom?"

"Kyousuke, where are you?"

"I'm with Manami, we're in-"

"Oh, Manami! I haven't seen her in such a long time. Why don't you invite her to dinner here tonight?"

"Okay, wait, I'll ask her." Kyousuke covered the mouthpiece with his other hand and asked Manami, "Mom wants you to have dinner with us, is that ok?"

She nodded. "Of course. Tell her I'll go."

Kyousuke turned back to his phone. "Okay, we'll be there, Mom. Was there anything else you wanted?"

"Well, I just wanted to see if you could buy me some of that stuff we use for the curry..."

Kyousuke took note of the stuff that his mother wanted him to get. After hanging up, he looked at Manami and said, "Sorry about that. Seems we're having curry again."

"No, it's okay. I like your mother's curry recipe. And I would love to see your family again; it's been such a long time since I've last been to your house."

"Yeah, maybe you could talk to Kirino too."

Manami looked a bit worried when she heard this but nodded anyway and said, "Maybe."

"Let's buy that stuff now," Kyousuke said while hurriedly trying to finish his ice cream. "That way we can be home a bit earlier."

"Okay," Manami agreed and dug in to her own dessert.

* * *

><p>"I'm home," he said as they arrived at his house. He saw his father reading the newspaper in the living room and his mother cooking in the kitchen.<p>

"Good evening, Mr. and Mrs. Kousaka," Manami greeted politely. Kyousuke's father nodded at her.

As Manami chatted with his mother and offered her help, Kyousuke placed the bag of groceries on the table. He wondered where Kirino was.

"I'm going upstairs to change. I'll be quick," he said to no one in particular.

He was at the bottom of the stairs when he looked up and saw Kirino coming down.

"Hey, I didn't see you this morning," he told her.

Kirino ignored him.

"Hey, I'm talking to you," he said, a bit annoyed.

His sister simply gave him a haughty glance and continued on her way downstairs. She entered the main room and slammed the door behind her.

_What's her problem?_ He thought as he made his way up to his room. He'd been meaning to talk to his sister about that noise he'd heard the other night but he'd rarely seen her since then, almost like she was avoiding him.

He entered his room and dropped his own bag to the floor. Just as he was removing his shirt, his door was suddenly slammed open. He heard his sister scream.

"The hell?" he yelled, quickly grabbing a new shirt and pulling it over his head.

"Pervert!" his sister screamed. "Gross!"

"How am I the pervert here?"

"Lock your door when you're changing, idiot!"

"In case you didn't notice, I don't have a lock!" He took a deep breath, trying to calm himself down. "Well, what is it?" he asked his sister, who he noticed was quite red.

"You brought a girl home!" Kirino suddenly exclaimed, moving closer and pointing a finger at him.

Kyousuke was taken slightly aback. "So?" he asked, his brows furrowed in confusion.

"So, that means you're really serious about her, huh?"

"Well-"

"Neighbor girl? Glasses girl? Plain girl?"

"Oi! Don't call her -"

"Idiot!"Kirino shouted. The word was punctuated with a sharp jab to his chest that he was sure would leave a bruise later on. In an effort to prevent further injury, he roughly grabbed her arm.

"What's wrong with you?" he asked, taken aback by how badly Kirino seemed to be taking this.

Kirino didn't answer him and instead looked away, suddenly quiet. Kyousuke shifted his hold on her arm, not quite ready to let her go yet. "What's your problem?"

His sister briefly struggled, causing him to only tighten his hold. "Nothing," Kirino muttered.

"How can this be nothing?" he asked, a bit bewildered. She was really confusing him now.

A timid knock startled them both. Kyousuke glanced at the door and saw Manami standing there, fidgeting. He quickly dropped his sister's hand.

"Please don't fight," Manami pleaded, wringing her hands. "Your mother told me to come here and call both of you down. Dinner is about to start."

"Manami, we weren't fighting," Kyousuke said, trying to explain the scene she had seen.

"Liar," his sister muttered beside him.

He glared at his sister and, in a low tone, hissed, "We'll talk about this later."

Kirino merely sneered at him and raised her head defiantly. Without saying another word, she stalked off, walking past Manami and almost bumping into her.

Kyousuke turned to Manami and tried to give her a reassuring smile.

"Sorry about that. Come on, let's go down."

* * *

><p>Sometime after Manami had gone home, Kyousuke knocked on his sister's door.<p>

"What?" his sister snapped as she opened the door.

"What the hell was that earlier?" he asked, barging into her room. "You were so mean to her the whole time she was here, and she hasn't even done anything to you!"

His sister folded her arms and looked away.

"So it's come to this, huh? You're finally bringing girls home. Pervert."

"What? Manami's been here lots of times before!"

"But never for a family dinner!"

"Wha-"

"Pervert!"

"Ok, what exactly is so perverted about that? And do you seriously expect me to never bring a girl home?"

At this, Kirino stilled. Kyousuke wondered what it was that he'd said wrong this time. "Hey, what's wrong?" he asked when she refused to answer

"You're right. You're absolutely right," Kirino whispered.

"What?" he said, totally losing track of the conversation.

Kirino looked back up at him. "Please go out now," she said in a steady voice.

"But-"

"I said, please leave now!"

"What is wrong with you?" he exclaimed, now getting even more frustrated. He seriously didn't understand how his sister's mind worked sometimes.

"Is she your girlfriend now?" his sister demanded.

"Wha-"

"She is, huh?"

"She's not my girlfriend yet, okay?"

"Not yet? So she's going to be."

"Well... I would like her to be, eventually," he replied. When his sister sneered at him, he shouted "I _am _21 years old, Kirino!" He was close to losing his temper.

"Get out." When Kyousuke refused to budge, she repeated in a louder voice, "Get out!"

He finally obeyed her and stormed out of her room, barely remembering not to slam the door behind him. Entering his room, he growled in frustration. What was wrong with his sister? He didn't understand why bringing Manami home would be an issue for her.

His phone began to ring.

"What?" he snapped.

"K...Kyou-chan? Is this a bad time?"

"Manami! No, I'm sorry. I didn't know it was you calling."

"I just got home," Manami replied, "and I called you like you told me to."

"Yeah, I wanted to know if you got home safely," he said as he sat down on his bed.

"What happened, Kyou-chan? You sounded angry when you answered my call."

"Nothing. Kirino and I were just talking."

"About what?"

"Okay, we were actually arguing," he admitted.

"Oh, Kyou-chan, is this about what happened earlier? I'm sorry, I never meant to offend your sister," she said sounding worried.

"Don't apologize, Manami. It's Kirino who should be doing that. I'm really sorry about how she was acting towards you earlier. I have no idea why she's being such a..." Kyousuke's voice trailed off as he sought a proper word to describe his sister. "...Brat," he finished.

"Kyou-chan, don't call her that," she chided him. "Maybe she just doesn't like me. Have you asked her about it?"

"I did, earlier, but like I said, she yelled at me to get out."

"What else did she tell you?"

"Well..." Kyousuke hesitated.

"Please tell me, Kyou-chan. Maybe I can help."

Kyousuke thought about it. It would be embarrassing to let Manami know about the stuff his sister had been saying earlier, but then again, this was _Manami_. She'd already seen his porn stash, what else could happen that was more embarrassing than that?

"She asked if you were my girlfriend," he said in a rush.

He heard Manami stammer, "Wha-what did you tell her?"

"I told her 'not yet,'" he replied courageously. When Manami didn't immediately reply, he blurted out, "Would you like to be?"

"Kyou-chan! I...I... That's..." Manami stammered out.

"It's okay if you don't want to," he said. He didn't know exactly where he was getting this courage from, but he thought it might be from his complete trust and confidence in his best friend. Manami was still stuttering something that he couldn't make out clearly, but he thought it sounded something like a 'yes.' He smiled to himself. He could almost imagine the blush that was surely staining her cheeks right now.

"But Kyou-chan, your sister," Manami said after composing herself, "she doesn't seem to like me."

Kyousuke frowned as he remembered their fight. "I'll talk to her tomorrow," he said firmly.

"That's good, Kyou-chan. I hope you get things settled with her soon."

"I hope so too. I don't like it when we're arguing. You know I find it hard to concentrate on anything when we do."

"Yes. Tell me about it tomorrow, okay?"

Kyousuke ended the call a while later after promising to inform Manami about his pending conversation with his sister. He yawned and stretched out on his bed. He was just now starting to feel how tired he was, both physically and emotionally. As he thought about what he should say to his sister, Kyousuke drifted off to sleep.

* * *

><p>Kyousuke frowned as he stared at the empty seat next to him at the dinner table. It had been three days since he had last fought with Kirino and he hadn't seen her since. The morning after their fight, he had asked about Kirino's absence during breakfast but his mother had only said that she had left earlier. He tried searching for her in school but she always seemed to know when he was looking for her.<p>

"I'm not telling you, you pervert," Ayase had said when he'd asked her after bumping into her at school. Kyousuke had had a difficult time explaining to Manami afterward exactly why Kirino's friend had called him that.

Kyousuke looked at his parents. Neither of them seemed to be bothered by the fact that their only daughter had been missing her meals for several days now. He finally couldn't take it anymore and blurted out, "Where's Kirino?"

His father glared at him. He gulped, wondering whether it was wrong for him to suddenly ask about his sister.

"Didn't she tell you?" his mother asked him in a worried tone. "She told us that she'd be the one to inform you about her decision."

"What decision?" he asked, brow scrunched together in confusion. What his mother said next made him drop his spoon.

"Kyousuke, I thought you already knew," she answered slowly. "Kirino moved out several days ago."

End of Part 2

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><p>Thanks for reading! Please leave a review and let me know what you think. =)<p> 


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: Again, I do not own Oreimo.

Warning: Awkward ending?

**Part 3**

The moment the last bit of food on his plate was gone, Kyousuke immediately excused himself from the dinner table and, without waiting for his parents' reply, rushed up the stairs and to his sister's bedroom. Despite what his mother had told him, he was not prepared for the sight that greeted him as he flung the door open. The room was empty - devoid of any of his sister's personal belongings. The bed was still there, as was the desk and the dresser beside it, but everything that had made the room distinctly Kirino's was gone.

Kyousuke paused for a moment, slowly surveying the bare room. His eyes widened as he suddenly remembered something. He rushed over to push a cabinet out of the way, revealing the door to Kirino's secret closet. As he slid the door open, he was greeted by the sight of empty shelves.

Still holding the door with one hand, Kyousuke closed his eyes and took a deep breath. His grip on the door tightened when he opened them again.

Yes, it was still empty. All the anime DVDs and eroge were gone, as well as the posters and Meruru collectibles.

He closed his eyes and opened them again after a few seconds.

It was still empty.

* * *

><p>"Manami, she's gone!" Kyousuke frantically exclaimed, holding the phone tightly to his ear while pacing back and forth in his own room.<p>

"Kyou-chan? What's wrong? Who's gone?" Manami answered, sounding worried.

"Kirino! All her stuff's gone, and she's gone, and-"

"Oh, Kyou-chan! Where did she go?"

"Mom said she moved out a few days ago. I didn't even know until today, nobody bothered to tell me!"

Kyousuke heard silence over the phone for a while before Manami spoke again.

"Kyou-chan..." Manami said gently, "she moved out?"

"Yes!" he exclaimed, waving his other arm around. He was glad that Manami finally seemed to understand the situation.

"Where?"

"I don't know!"

"Well, why don't you ask your parents?"

"I can't ask them that!"

"Huh? Why not?"

Kyousuke paused as he thought about it. He remembered his father's expression earlier when he had asked about his sister. "I...just can't, Manami. They'll think that I-" Kyousuke stopped himself just in time and started pacing again.

"They'll think what, Kyou-chan?"

"Nothing. Never mind. The point is she's gone! What do I do, Manami?"

"Kyou-chan," Manami said, sounding a bit hesitant, "Why do you have to do anything about it?"

Kyousuke halted in his steps and blinked. What?

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"I mean, Kirino is old enough to live on her own."

Kyousuke cocked his head to one side and blinked again. She is? Well, of course he knew that his sister was already legally an adult but...

"And it seems that your parents did give their permission," Manami continued.

"Well... When you put it that way..." he said slowly, frowning to himself. "It does sound...alright." His frown deepened when he heard Manami chuckle. "What?"

"I'm sorry, Kyou-chan. It's just that... Well, could it be that you're just worried about your sister?"

"Wha- I'm not- of course not-" Kyousuke spluttered, trying very hard to quickly come up with a less embarrassing excuse for his apparent concern over his sister's current living situation. He gave up a moment later when it became clear that Manami was not going to believe otherwise.

"You don't have to be embarrassed about it, Kyou-chan," Manami said. "It's normal for older brothers to be concerned and protective over their over younger sisters."

Kyousuke's breath hitched a little at the word 'normal'. As far as he knew, his relationship with Kirino had never been normal. "I'm not being protective," he grumbled a moment later. He heard Manami chuckle again.

"If you're so worried, why don't you visit her? I'm sure one of her friends knows where she lives," Manami suggested.

Kyousuke quickly thought about it as he sat down on his bed. "I don't think that's going to work," he said.

"Why not?"

"Remember what happened the other day when I asked one of her friends at school?"

"Ah, yes, her name was Ayase, right?"

Kyousuke nodded absently. He inched closer to the wall beside his bed, the one separating his room from Kirino's (_not anymore_, he reminded himself) room. It felt cold against his back.

"Kyou-chan?"

"Huh?"

"Did you hear what I just said?"

"Ah, I'm sorry! I was just thinking about something. Yes, her name's Ayase."

"I wonder why she called you that," Manami mused. "Could she have mistaken you for someone else?"

"Eh... Forget about that," he said quickly. "Anyway, I know some of her other friends. I'll just ask them."

"Okay, Kyou-chan. But don't call them now. It's getting late."

Kyousuke checked the clock on his desk. "Sorry for calling you this late, Manami. Anyway, you'd better get some sleep now. We have classes tomorrow."

"It's you who should sleep earlier. Your class is earlier than mine," she reminded him. "And you can't afford to be late again."

"Yes, yes," he said, "Then, let's sleep together, shall we?"

"K-Kyou-chan!" Manami stuttered.

"What?" He then recalled his previous statement. "Wait! I'm sorry, I didn't mean it that way! I meant let's both sleep at the same time." He sighed in relief when he heard Manami calm down. "Sorry. Anyway, good night, Manami."

"Good night, Kyou-chan," she replied.

Kyousuke's brow furrowed when Manami still hadn't hung up a few seconds later. "Hello?"

"Kyou-chan, I-" Manami suddenly paused. "Never mind. I'm sorry. Good night, Kyou-chan!" she hurriedly said and ended the call.

Kyousuke frowned at his phone, wondering what she had wanted to tell him. _Manami can be so weird sometimes_, he thought. He promptly forgot about it a minute later as he considered how he could find out his sister's new address.

* * *

><p>Kuroneko raised an eyebrow at him. "And?"<p>

Kyousuke squirmed in his seat and placed his hands under the table. He felt a bit like a young schoolboy being scolded for doing something silly, despite the fact that he was older than the girl sitting across the table and the fact that he was clearly a grown man and not a child. "And... that's it," he mumbled.

"So you called us out here because you were panicking over your sister moving out and getting her own place? This is your emergency?" she said, resting her chin on her right hand, her face seemingly giving no clue as to what she was feeling. But Kyousuke knew better. He'd seen her mouth twitch a moment earlier, and he'd immediately known that she was inwardly laughing at him.

Kyousuke looked to the other girl sitting on his left and hoped she understood his silent plea for her help.

"Now, now, Kuroneko-shi," Saori chided. "I'm sure that this is a time of great despair for Kyousuke-shi. We should do our best to help him."

Kyousuke spluttered. "I'm not in despair!" he cried out, defending himself.

Kuroneko raised another eyebrow at him.

"And I'm not panicking either!" he added.

"You're breathing rapidly. Your hands are sweating and you can't seem to keep them still. Your right thigh is shaking and you're fidgeting," Kuroneko stated flatly. "If you're not panicking then you're extremely anxious."

Kyousuke made an effort to still his leg. He also somehow managed to unclench his hands and wipe them on his pants. "I'm not anxious," he declared, proudly placing his hands on the table and causing it to shake a little.

"I can't believe you haven't seen us for five months and now you're treating us to cheap coffee," Kuroneko said, eyeing her coffee. She pushed the disposable cup away from her and dabbed at the small spill on the table with a napkin.

Saori chuckled beside him. "It's alright to be worried about your sister, Kyousuke-shi!" she said cheerfully, ignoring the small spill in front of her own cup. "So what did you want to ask us?"

Kyousuke cleared his throat and took a deep breath. "I just wanted to ask if you know where she's staying right now." He cocked his head slightly to one side when he saw his companions exchange a glance. "What?"

"Nothing," Saori immediately responded.

"Yes," Kuroneko said at the same time. Kyousuke and Saori looked at her. "We know where she lives,"

"Kuroneko-shi..." Saori said, frowning at her friend.

"But I'm not telling you where," Kuroneko continued.

Kyousuke's eyebrows pinched together. "Why not?"

"Kyousuke-shi, we're sorry but we can't tell you."

"Why not?" he repeated, shifting his attention to Saori.

"Kiririn-shi made us promise not to tell you," she confessed, looking troubled. "I'm really sorry, Kyousuke-shi."

Kyousuke sighed and sagged in his seat.

"Kyousuke-shi, maybe you could ask her other friends?"

"Already did," he said as he rubbed his eyes tiredly.

"And they refused to tell you," Saori guessed sadly.

"One of them kicked me," he muttered.

"And the others?"

Kyousuke looked up at Kuroneko and wondered if he should tell her. He'd always suspected that she got off on seeing him humiliated.

"The other yelled at me and called me a 'stalker pervert' in front of the faculty room," he admitted. He expected to be mocked, but the other girl merely hummed and tapped her fingers on the table.

"I wish I had been there," she said wistfully.

Apparently, his suspicions had been correct. Saori gave him a sympathetic look.

"Well, as fascinating as this conversation is," Kuroneko said dryly, looking at her watch, "I have somewhere else I need to be." She stood up and eyed Kyousuke. "It's been a... well, not a pleasure, but it was certainly amusing, so there's that."

Kyousuke stared at her as she left, her dress, though now much tamer, still garnering strange looks from the other customers in the cafe. He realized his jaw was hanging slightly open. He quickly closed it and glanced at his other companion.

Saori smiled at him and cheerfully declared, "She really seems to like you, Kyousuke-shi."

Kyousuke merely blinked at her. It seemed that Saori too hadn't changed and was still capable of saying the strangest and most alarming things.

"So, Kyousuke-shi, tell me more about the university you're attending," Saori said, changing the subject. "I've always wanted to visit there but I've never found the time to do so."

Kyousuke sighed as it began to sink in his mind that he wasn't going to get anything out of Saori either. He felt weary but he did his best to set aside his troubles for now and tried to match Saori's mood as he answered her questions.

* * *

><p>Kyousuke jumped, bumping his leg on his desk, as his phone suddenly began to ring. He glanced at the clock sitting on his desk and wondered who could be calling him at this time of the night. Rubbing his sore knee, he reached for his phone.<p>

"I can tell you where she lives," was the first thing he heard.

Kyousuke's jaw dropped. He quickly dropped his pen and clutched the phone tighter to his ear with both hands.

"But what do I get out of it?" Kuroneko continued.

"Anything!" he exclaimed. "Anything at all!"

"A cursed magical artifact," she said after a while.

"What the hell? Where am I going to find that?"

"Just kidding," Kuroneko intoned.

Kyousuke rolled his eyes and thought for a while, now twirling his pen on his fingers. It was one of the few neat tricks he'd learned from Kohei during high school. "I'll treat you to good coffee."

"You have questionable tastes when it comes to coffee."

"I'll buy you a Maschera manga!"

"I already have all of them."

"I'll buy you one of those games or those game-making software stuff that you like so much." He realized he was now tapping his pen on the book he'd borrowed from Kohei yesterday and stopped, silently cursing at the dotted ink stains now covering the bottom of a page. "I'll even throw in a book," he added generously.

"I've already stolen everything that I could from the game club."

Kyousuke paused. "You what?" he uttered blankly.

"Relax. I just ripped every cd I could find and they had at least three copies of almost every book."

"And now they only have two," he remarked dryly.

"Hmm."

"I'll go with you to a convention!" he said, though he winced a little as he remembered the last convention he'd been forced to attend. He had felt distinctly uncomfortable and out of place amidst the sea of anime and manga enthusiasts. His wallet had also thinned considerably afterwards, but his sister had been so happy and had even offered to pay for their train ticket home (though it was the only thing she paid for that day) that he hadn't really minded that much.

His sister. Kirino.

With renewed determination, he added, "And I won't even complain this time."

"Tempting but not enough."

"What else do you want?"

"Throw in some coffee."

"Wha- But you just said-" Kyousuke sighed in frustration. "Fine, fine. Just tell me where she lives."

He suddenly straightened in his seat as he remembered something. "Wait, didn't you make a promise not to tell me?"

"I did no such thing."

"But you said-"

"Saori promised," she said, cutting him off. "I merely nodded. It's not my fault she took that as a sign of my agreement."

"Huh," was all he managed to say.

"Look, idiot senpai, do you want this or not?"

"Of course I want it! But..." Kyousuke paused and cleared his throat. "...Why are you helping me?"

It was apparently the wrong thing to ask. He heard Kuroneko stutter, "Idiot! I'm not helping you! It merely amuses me to see you make a fool out of yourself, and you know you do that so well in front of Kirino."

"Ah, of course," he replied.

It was only after Kuroneko had hung up on him (again) that he realized he'd jotted down his sister's address on the margins of the book on his desk. He cursed as he realized a whole page was ruined, with the ink dots covering the bottom part and almost the whole margin filled with his large, hurried handwriting. There was nothing to be done about it. Hopefully, Kohei wasn't the type to care about his books.

Shoving that problem aside for later, he thought about how he was going to approach his sister. He couldn't just suddenly appear in front of her apartment without any reason whatsoever. He needed a plan. A moment later, Kyousuke ripped out a fresh page from one of his notebooks and began to write.

End of part 3

* * *

><p>Thanks for reading! Please leave a comment, any comment. :)<p> 


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: Oreimo isn't mine.

Sorry this took so to my beta who helped me a lot with this.

* * *

><p>Despite his written plans, which had ended up in a crumpled ball in his trash can, it took at least three weeks and two aborted attempts before he managed to actually enter his sister's apartment.<p>

The first time, he'd merely stared in awe at the building in front of him. For some reason, when Kuroneko had mentioned the word apartment, he'd pictured one of those small three- to five-story buildings occupied either by nice old ladies or by couples just starting out.

But this building in front of him had at least twenty floors and was clearly designed for those who wanted more than the average living quarters and had enough money to pay for it. He couldn't imagine it being a place for the elderly or for fresh, broke couples.

Strangely enough, he could easily picture Kirino living in such a place.

He went back a week later after realizing how silly he'd been, being intimidated by a _building_. A few minutes later, he'd immediately walked back out, berating himself for not considering the security not until it was too late.

The third time, Kyousuke decided, would be the last. He bravely walked towards the entrance and, ignoring the security guard, went straight to the receptionist.

"Kousaka Kirino, please," he said as she looked at him.

Eyeing the package he was carrying, the receptionist (Mayumi, her name tag said) smiled at him in a way that told him she was used to random people asking for his sister and, in the same manner, was also used to kicking them out of the building. "Your name, sir?" she asked politely.

"Kousaka Kyousuke."

Her eyes widened slightly at that.

"Her brother," he added a moment later when he realized the receptionist was probably waiting for him to continue.

"Oh. That's-" She broke off as her eyes travelled to his hair.

"She dyes her hair," he said, instinctively knowing what she was thinking about.

"Ah. I see," she replied, still making no move to let him in.

Kyousuke eyed the elevator doors to her left and thought about just making a run for it. Realizing how that would never work, he balanced the package he was holding on one hand and quickly got out his wallet.

"Here's my ID," he said.

"Ms. Kousaka has never mentioned a brother before," she said, taking his wallet and studying his student ID closely.

Kyousuke fought the urge to snatch his wallet back. "Yes, well, she's only been here for around a month. And we don't see each other often."

He gritted his teeth as she looked at him curiously, and said, "Look, why don't you just call her and let her know I'm here?"

"Unfortunately, Ms. Kousaka still hasn't installed a phone yet," she said, finally giving him his wallet back.

Kyousuke had a brief moment of panic when she suddenly stood and motioned for the guard to come over. He was just about to flee when he heard her calmly instructing the guard to stand in her place while she escorted a guest.

"Please follow me," she said as she pressed the elevator button.

The ride up the elevator was tense. Tense, because once he'd gotten over the security hurdle, Kyousuke suddenly remembered his last conversation(argument) with his sister. He worried about what her reaction would be once she found out who her visitor was.

It was a good thing that the receptionist took it upon herself to knock on his sister's door. In an effort to calm himself down as they waited for Kirino to answer, he shifted the package in his hands and tried to arrange the stuff inside it. He could see the receptionist slightly smiling at his actions, but at that moment he really couldn't find it in himself to care about something so trivial when he was finally about to see his sister.

Her smile widened when they heard a lock slide open and he jumped slightly, upsetting the bag in his hand.

"Who is it?"

Kyousuke took a deep breath as he heard his sister's voice for the first time in a month.

"Ms. Kousaka, there is a man looking for you. He says his name is-"

"Mayumi, I thought I told you to turn away..." Kirino's voice trailed off as she opened the door wider and saw who was standing beside the receptionist.

"Oh."

Kyousuke quickly glanced at his sister and felt an unexpected rush of relief when he saw that she looked pretty much the same as he'd last seen her. It seemed that she'd been coping well enough on her own. He nervously cleared his throat. "Um, hi."

"What are you doing here?" Kirino asked suspiciously.

Kyousuke's mind did a little panic dance as he tried to remember his planned excuse. Briefly, he noted that his sister, based on what she was wearing, had either just gotten back from somewhere or was on her way out.

"Anytime today would be a good time to start talking," she said, tapping her foot impatiently.

Oh, right. He forced himself to focus and then suddenly remembered something. He looked down at the 'plan' in his hands.

"Here," he said, thrusting a paper bag towards his sister. "This is from Mom. She's worried you're not eating properly."

Her brows furrowed together in confusion. "But Mom already gave me food two days ago."

Kyousuke blinked. Dammit. And he had thought it was a good plan.

"She's really worried."

His sister arched a perfect eyebrow at him.

"Really, really worried."

Kirino looked at him incredulously. "Right," she said as she eyed the huge brown paper bag in his hands.

Kyousuke gulped as he realized he was probably going to get kicked out soon. In a last attempt to convince his sister to let him in, he shifted his arms a bit lower so she could get a glimpse of the fresh yellow mangoes he knew she was secretly fond of.

"Okay, fine," she said as she stepped back.

Kyousuke released a breath he didn't know he'd been holding and entered Kirino's apartment. Behind him, he thought he heard Kirino thanking and dismissing the receptionist, but he wasn't really paying attention. All his focus was taken up by observing by the (not so) surprising color scheme his sister had used for the place. His eyes darted from the floor, which was a light brown wood, to the furniture, which was a mix of white and pink. The place had an open rectangular floor plan, with a second floor covering just about half of the living room area. From his position, he could see two doors upstairs, which he guessed to be the bedroom and the bathroom. Big, glass windows also covered one wall and allowed the afternoon sunlight to stream in the whole place. To his immediate left, from the door, lay the kitchen that also served as the dining area. Kyousuke placed the bag on a nearby counter and turned to survey the rest of the room.

"So, what are you _really _doing here?"

"Ah, you see-" he began, with absolutely no idea how he was going to explain himself. Hell, he couldn't even understand why he was here in the first place.

"Never mind." Kirino plopped into one of the (white) stuffed armchairs in the living room area and placed a (pink) throw pillow on her lap. "Sit," she ordered, pointing at another fluffy armchair. She repeated her command when she saw that Kyousuke was still studying the place.

Fighting the 'flee' signals his brain kept sending to his feet, Kyousuke forced himself to tentatively take a seat. He realized that his plan had only included the logistics of getting there, but not what he would actually say to her once he did.

"How did you find out about this place?" she asked curiously.

"How did you manage to get a place like this in the first place?" he asked back, still sitting on the edge of his seat. Trying to look nonchalant, he leaned forward, placed his elbows on his thighs, and clasped his hands together loosely.

"Are you mocking me?" his sister replied.

"Just answer the question."

"Dad pays for half of it." Ah. Their parents always did favor his sister. "The rest from royalties," Kirino added.

There was silence, for a while.

"Are you still angry?" he finally blurted out.

Kirino started at his sudden outburst. "Are you still with her?" she retaliated.

"What does that have to do with anything?"

"Idiot!"

He wondered how his sister could sneer and still look so beautiful at the same time. Well, she was a model after all. Kyousuke sighed and tried to rein in his wandering thoughts. He needed to focus on the issue at hand, and that was... Actually, come to think of it, he still had no idea what the issue was. He leaned back on the chair and rubbed his face with both of his hands, trying to recall what he had done to make his sister angry enough to leave their house.

"Look," Kirino began in a tight, uncomfortable-sounding voice, "I never really intended for it to go this far."

Kyousuke dropped his hands to his lap and stared at her. "For what to go this far?" he asked, without thinking.

The sudden, horrible silence in the room made him briefly close his eyes as he tried to resist the urge to hit himself.

"Get out," his sister finally said, staring at her hands which were now tightly gripping the small pillow on her lap.

Frustration mixed with something else he didn't have the patience to try to understand at that moment made him stand up and walk towards the door. His hand was already on the knob when he hesitated.

What would happen once he walked out? The last time he did that, Kirino had moved out of their house. Would she move again to somewhere even further away, to a place where she was sure Kyousuke would never find her? The thought made his stomach feel like it was turning in on itself.

Kyousuke looked back at his sister and saw her still sitting in the same position. Perhaps she felt his hesitation because she quickly looked up at him, but just as quickly looked away.

"I said, get out," she hissed.

Kyousuke, ignoring his earlier desire to just walk away from the argument, slowly approached his sister and asked, "Can we just forget about this?"

That was, he thought, the simplest solution to this mess.

"Please," he added when the silence stretched too long. He was now standing in front of his sister, staring down at the top of her head. He waited for her to respond but she stubbornly refused to even acknowledge him. That wasn't good; he had to stop her from shutting him out. He crouched down, so that it was now him looking up at Kirino, and murmured her name. It felt, at that particular moment, surprisingly heavy on his tongue.

He heard his sister inhale sharply and finally, _finally_, glance at him.

"Fine," she bit out. Her expression as she spoke was hard but Kyousuke could see that her anger was already subsiding. "But you're going to have to make up for this."

A heavy wave of relief surged through him at those words. It was such a sharp contrast from his earlier emotions that his mind felt a little light-headed and he flopped to the floor, allowing him to notice just how lush and luxurious the rug covering the floor was. He felt an absurd urge to lie down on it, and he did so, ignoring the sudden amused look his sister wore. Later, he would blame the rug for making him forget to point out the fact that he had, at least to his own knowledge, done nothing wrong and therefore actually had nothing to make up for.

"You look ridiculous," Kirino said, trying to stifle her laughter.

"Yeah, well, I don't really care right now," he replied languidly as he rolled to one side and came face to face with his sister's DVD collection, which was surprisingly, not anime-related.

"Hey, you have a lot of movies here," he said, trying to further lighten the mood.

He didn't realize how much the mood had changed until his sister surprised him by saying, "Yes. Want to watch one?"

"Where are your special DVDs? The anime stuff," he asked, curious as to why they weren't on display when she had the whole place to herself now and therefore had no reason to hide it.

"Hidden," Kirino replied mysteriously. She stood up and walked towards the kitchen. "Pick a movie; I'll make us a snack."

Kyousuke didn't bother to reply as he was already busy trying to find a movie he might like. He didn't really think that he'd find one here, but, then again, it didn't really matter. He still felt charged from the earlier flood of emotions and right now, insane as it was, he was pretty much willing to watch ten of the world's girliest, sappiest movies if it made his sister happy.

"Thanks, by the way," Kirino said as she started unpacking the bag Kyousuke brought.

Kyousuke, still lying on the rug, glanced at his sister blankly.

Kirino rolled her eyes. "For the mangoes."

"Oh, that. Yeah, sure," he said absently, his gaze already shifting back to the DVD rack.

"Aha! So it did come from you!"

Kyousuke forced his suddenly stiff shoulders to relax. "No," he replied in what he hoped was a casual tone. When caught in the act, outright denial was always the best way to go, or at least that was what he'd heard from one of the guys in school.

His back was still to his sister but he could just feel her amusement wafting in the air. "Uh-huh," she said, clearly just humouring him. "By the way, I do love mangoes, but seriously? This many?"

Knowing his face was a bit red, he muttered, "Enjoy it. Mom has at least two bags of that at home."

"What was that?"

"Nothing."

* * *

><p>"I'm home," he said in a very low voice as he arrived. Not bothering to arrange his shoes as he removed them, he slowly padded towards the stairs. He was almost at his room when-<p>

"Kyousuke?"

He jumped and banged his arm on the door as he heard his mother's voice. Damn, and he'd been trying to be quiet too.

"Where have you been? It's not like you to be out so late," his mother asked.

Kyousuke turned to face his mother, his mind racing with all the plausible excuses he could give. "Where have I been..." he slowly said, repeating his mother's question to buy himself some time.

Though it seemed that he didn't really need to, since his mother continued, "Oh, never mind. I understand."

"Huh?" Kyousuke, for the umpteenth time that day, began to panic. What, just _what_, did she understand?

"I'm just glad you're finally showing an interest after all these years. I was beginning to worry, you know."

_What? _

"Gah," he replied eloquently.

His mother chuckled. "Just be sure to introduce the girl to us sometime soon, okay? Bring her home for dinner sometime."

Oh. _Oh_. So that's what she meant.

"Or maybe we've already met her?" her mother added, smiling at him.

Kyousuke decided to put an end to this very uncomfortable situation. "Just had to do something after class," he said vaguely. He faked a huge yawn, and added, "Anyway, very tired. Must sleep now. Good night, Mom."

Not bothering to wait for her reply, he quickly entered his room and leaned on the door, his heart pounding as he listened for his mother's footsteps. When he was sure that she had gone back to her own room, he let out a huge breath and flung himself on his bed.

Staring at the ceiling, with his hands folded behind his head, he recalled the afternoon he'd spent with his sister. They had ended up watching not one, but five movies in a row - all of which were chosen by his sister. She had alternately giggled and cried while watching, while he had, in the same scenes, alternately snickered and cringed. Almost all of the mangoes he'd brought had been consumed by Kirino and he'd also eaten more than enough microwaveable popcorn to last him a lifetime. They had only noticed that it was already almost midnight when Kyousuke had to go to the bathroom and happened to glance at the clock hanging on the wall near the stairs.

If it wasn't for a thought that abruptly entered his mind at that moment, he would have never noticed that he was smiling quite goofily. As it was, the grin was wiped off his face when he remembered that he hadn't checked his phone since that afternoon. That meant Manami was probably wondering where he was. He dug out his phone from his pocket and flipped it open, hoping that-

Damn. Four missed calls and ten messages, all from Manami. He scrolled through the messages and felt guilty when he realized just how worried Manami had been. He'd promised to call her in the evening after he visited his sister, but back then, he had thought that he'd be in and out of his sister's apartment in an hour. He wondered if it was already too late to call her back. Knowing that it was already way past midnight, he decided to just send her a message.

_Just got back from Kirino's place. I'm really sorry I forgot to call you. Will tell you what happened tomorrow during lunch. _

He hoped Manami wasn't angry with him for not calling. He placed his phone on the small cabinet beside his bed. Too tired to even consider going to the bathroom to wash, he decided to just change his clothes. One disadvantage of travelling so late was the lack of public transportation, which in turn necessitated long walks in the dark. He settled onto the bed and promptly fell asleep, thus not being able to follow through on his decision and also not hearing the beep his phone gave as he received a message.

* * *

><p>It was only when he saw Manami sitting at their regular lunch table and looking out of sorts, that a tiny tendril of guilt started making itself known to him. Her eyes widened as she saw him approaching and she anxiously smiled at him.<p>

"Kyou-chan! I was so worried! What happened last night?" she began as he sat down across from her.

"Manami, I'm really sorry. I went to Kirino's place yesterday. And I know I told you it would probably take less than an hour, if I was even lucky enough to not get instantly kicked out..." he trailed off as he thought about how he was going to explain without making himself sound like a jerk.

"But?" Manami gently prodded.

"Well, you see, we ended up watching several movies. So...look, I'm _really_ sorry. Are you mad?" he said, looking at her apprehensively. He hoped she wasn't. All these years and he'd never seen Manami once get angry at him. He had no desire for it to happen now.

"No," she answered quickly. Too quickly.

It was his turn to prod. "But?"

"But... you could have called or sent a message to let me know. I was really worried," she said gently.

"I-" Kyousuke gulped and looked away from Manami. He didn't want to admit that he forgot. But he couldn't lie either. "It was just that-"

"Never mind, Kyou-chan," Manami interrupted. He tensed a little at that, but he relaxed when she continued. "I was just so worried. I'm glad you're safe."

"I'm sorry," he repeated once more, his guilt flaring at the mention of Manami's worry.

Maybe his guilt was showing, since Manami took pity on him and decided to change the subject. "So, it looks like it went well," she said, obviously waiting for him to give her details.

Kyousuke latched on to the subject, eager to distract Manami from the previous topic. He started to describe the apartment and went on to tell her about his adventure with the receptionist and how silly it was that she wouldn't believe he was related to Kirino because of his _hair_. He skimmed over the fight with his sister, conveniently left out the part where he'd almost walked out, and he also most certainly did not mention the embarrassing fact that he'd been forced to bribe Kirino with a bag of fruit just so he could enter. Running out of details that he was comfortable with revealing, he eventually resorted to giving a very detailed description of the movies he'd watched that night, choosing not to notice how Manami's smile seemed a bit strained.

He was in class that afternoon when his phone rang, all too noticeable in the quiet room. He quickly cancelled the call without checking to see who it was but it was too late. The professor, who had been writing something on the board, slowly turned around and scanned the room. Kyousuke slunk in his seat, hoping that he wouldn't be identified as the one who had disturbed the class. But, as was often the case, his luck didn't hold out as his phone began to ring again and the professor's eyes zeroed in on him. Without waiting for her to speak, Kyousuke sheepishly stood up and quickly made his way towards the door, his phone ringing all the while. He flushed a little as he heard some of his classmates snickering.

Whoever was had better have a damn good reason.

"What?" he snapped into his phone once he was out of the room.

"Sheesh. What's gotten your knickers in a twist?"

His jaw dropped as he recognized his sister's voice. "What- Why are you- Where the _hell_ did you get that expression?"

His sister merely giggled. "New model at the agency. And she's _wonderfully_ British."

"I don't like it," he grumbled, leaning against the wall. "What's wrong?"

His sister paused. "Why would you assume something's wrong?"

"You're calling me."

"And I only call you when something's wrong and I need you to get me out of it?" she said, her voice slightly rising.

"Well..." Kyousuke hesitated, considering whether he should tell the truth as he saw it and suffer her anger or just lie. "No," he finished. He did hate arguing with Kirino. "Why aren't you in class, anyway?"

"I don't have class on Fridays, idiot."

"It's not like I know your schedule," he said, gritting his teeth, his eye twitching a little at being insulted by his sister again.

"Hmm. Are you busy tomorrow night?"

"What?"

"Idiot. I said, are you busy tomorrow night?"

"No," he answered quickly, curious as to why Kirino would ask such a thing.

"Pick me up at seven."

"What?" he said, brow furrowing in confusion. He heard his sister sigh exasperatedly.

"I said, pick me up at seven," she repeated slowly, stressing each word out. "Idiot," she added a beat after, almost as an afterthought.

His eyebrows rose and he cocked his head to one side. "Why?"

His sister merely hung up on him.

Kyousuke scowled at his phone.


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I do not own Oreimo.

* * *

><p>Kyousuke was getting used to having his mouth hang open every other minute. This was probably a bad thing to get used to but he decided to worry about that later.<p>

He stared at the stuff that his sister held in her hands. When he'd been invited (ordered, actually) to come over to her place, he'd thought that he'd be subjected again to a night of sappy, romantic movies. But the items Kirino held in her hands and were now urging him to take clearly indicated that they'd be doing something else tonight.

He glanced at his sister. "Where are we going again?"

Kirino sighed exasperatedly. "A party. I already told you this."

He looked doubtfully at the neatly pressed shirt and pants his sister was holding. There was even a tie. So that was why she'd sent him a message that morning telling him to wear his only pair of formal, black shoes. He hadn't understood at that time but he also hadn't dared to disobey his sister.

"They'll fit you, don't worry," Kirino assured him.

"How do you know my size?" he asked, finally giving in and gingerly taking the clothes.

His sister blushed. Kyousuke froze and stared at his sister in shock. "You- You measured me in my sleep?" he almost squeaked.

"Idiot! Of course not!" his sister yelled. "I just went through your closet."

"Oh," Kyousuke said, feeling a bit relieved.

Wait.

That didn't make it any better.

Kyousuke blushed as he remembered what he hid in his closet. He cleared his throat as he thought about the best way to ask-

"And yes, I saw it," his sister said, smirking at him.

Well, at least he didn't have to ask anymore.

"Gross, by the way. Who keeps porn in their closet? And why are you still here and not up there, changing?"

"Where can I change?"

"Up there. First door. My bedroom," she said. Kyousuke was already walking up the stairs when she yelled at him, "If you touch anything, I'll know and you'll die."

He chose not to respond to that as he entered her room and closed the door behind him. He surveyed the bedroom and once again confirmed that, yes, his sister really did love the color pink, in all its different variations.

He quickly pulled his shirt over his head and stared at the dress shirt his sister had given him. It was pink. A very pale pink, admittedly, but still pink. Oh, well. He quickly wore it and hurriedly changed his pants as well.

While folding his discarded clothes (and briefly wondering where he should put them), he took a deep breath and realized that that distinctive smell he'd been breathing in the whole time he'd been here was his sister's scent. Kyousuke had always had a hard time describing a smell but he thought that if there was one thing his sister smelled like, it would be strawberries. Or maybe cherries. Or something equally fruity. But subtle. And fresh, like she'd always just come out of the shower. Maybe it was her shampoo?

He was jostled out of his thoughts when he heard his sister knock.

"Are you done?" she said, her voice a bit muffled by the door.

"Yeah, I was just-" _thinking about what you smelled like_, "-wondering about the tie."

His sister entered the room and impatiently grabbed the tie from his hands. He smirked as he saw that she had to strain a little to reach his neck. His sister noticed and nearly choked him with the tie. "It's not my fault you grew like a weed," she muttered under her breath. Kyousuke tried to loosen the tie a little as Kirino examined him but she quickly slapped his hand away.

"Ok, get out. Wait for me downstairs. And don't you dare wrinkle what you're wearing," she said, shoving him out the door.

Kyousuke stood awkwardly outside his sister's bedroom, wondering what he was going to do now. He eyed the soft rug near the television downstairs but decided now really wasn't the time. Besides, it would wrinkle his pants.

He was sitting on one of the stools near the kitchen, drinking iced tea, when he heard the bedroom door open and his sister come downstairs. That was quick. He'd been prepared to wait for a while, half an hour maybe, since he'd heard that it took at least that long, on the average, for women to dress up for a party. Apparently, Kirino wasn't one of those women.

He turned around and, once again, found himself staring at his sister with his jaw dropped, although it was for an altogether different reason this time.

God, she was _beautiful_.

He'd always known his sister was beautiful. She was a model, and one of the more popular ones, after all. But it never really struck him just how beautiful she was until tonight. Her hair was down, but she must have done something to it because it was hanging down in soft waves instead of the straight style he was used to. He knew she must have some make-up on but it was so light that he almost couldn't tell. Her black dress, which had a subtle print and was accented by a belt that was deep pink, was also strapless and ended just above her knees.

Even her _knees_ were pretty.

He didn't realize his sister was already standing in front of him until it was too late. He yelled as he felt himself being bopped on the head.

"Close your mouth, idiot. Gross," his sister muttered, though Kyousuke could see that her face was a bit red. She turned around to grab her purse from a nearby side table and strode towards the door, her heels clacking on the wooden floor. "Let's go," she snapped. "Lock the door."

Kyousuke, still feeling a little light-headed, quickly downed the remaining tea in his glass, only realizing then how dry his mouth had become. He placed it back on the counter and followed his sister out of the apartment, barely remembering to turn off the lights and lock the door behind him.

* * *

><p>"Kirino!" A girl's voice floated out to them as they entered the hotel room the party was being hosted in.<p>

"Don't say anything unless I tell you to," she hissed at him. Kyousuke didn't even have any time to feel irritated since Kirino was already dragging him towards a group of people clustered together on one side.

On the way over, Kirino had briefly explained that it was going to be a birthday party hosted by the agency for one of its models. Kyousuke had then turned a bit pale, wondering if it was going to be one of _those_ formal parties, but she'd assured him that it wasn't too formal, which was why he was only wearing a dress shirt and not a full suit. By that time, they had already arrived at the hotel, and she had immediately walked out of the cab, leaving him to pay the fare.

The driver had grinned at him and said, "Good luck."

He had felt like begging the driver to just let him back in and take him home but Kirino was waiting for him by the entrance, tapping her foot impatiently. So he paid the bill and, squaring his shoulders, turned around to face his sister. _I can do this_, he thought.

"Ami, happy birthday!" his sister greeted the girl who had called out to them. Kyousuke watched, amused and just a tad uncomfortable, as the two friends briefly hugged and kissed each other on the cheeks in the way that only women can do.

"Thanks! I'm so glad you're here. Kirino, meet Ed. My boyfriend," the girl, who was apparently named Ami, said as she giggled. Kyousuke glanced at the man standing beside her and thought he saw an amused look, similar to his earlier expression, flit across the other's face. "Ed, this is Kirino, the one I've been telling you about. And this is..." she trailed off as she glanced inquiringly at him.

"Kyousuke," her sister replied as she firmly grabbed his elbow.

He wondered if he should also greet his sister's colleague. He knew it was the polite thing to do but, then again, his sister had warned him not to say anything. Did that include not talking when it was at least expected of him to say something? Kyousuke felt confused.

"Kyousuke," Ami repeated and smiled at him.

The grip on his elbow tightened alarmingly, and he realized that his sister hadn't meant for him to take her warning so literally. "Happy birthday," he said, trying to sound as less awkward as possible.

"Thank you," Ami said warmly and just as quickly dismissed him by shifting her gaze back to Kirino and started conversing with her about things that Kyousuke really couldn't bring himself to care about. His whole body itched to leave, but he couldn't since his sister was still holding on to him. The other guy just looked at him calmly, and Kyousuke hated him simply for looking so at home while he felt so _awkward _and out of place.

The night went on like that, with Kirino meeting and chatting with her friends and their respective escorts, while Kyousuke stood uncomfortably beside her, too tense to munch on the delicious-looking treats laid out on the buffet table but not too tense to not take a glass of something decidedly alcoholic from a passing waiter. He sipped his drink slowly, trying to make the liquid last, since holding the glass made him feel irrationally better and he didn't want to have any excuse to have his hands empty again. Kirino just eyed the drink in his hands but didn't say anything.

At some point in the evening, Kyousuke realized that Kirino wasn't talking to anyone at the moment and took the opportunity to ask her something he'd been longing to ask ever since they stepped foot inside the place.

"How long do these things usually last?" They'd only been there for two hours, but to Kyousuke it had felt much, much longer.

Kirino frowned at him but didn't answer his question. Instead, she nodded to herself and said, "Okay. Let's go home. I just have to say goodbye to some people and then we'll leave."

Kyousuke smiled at her gratefully and watched her as she said her goodbyes. He was so grateful, he almost forgot about the glass in his hand, but a waiter was luckily perceptive discreet enough to grab it from him before he walked out the door with it. He flushed a little at that, but was glad that no one seemed to notice other than his sister, who chuckled at him.

* * *

><p>"Please don't make me do that again," he said quietly as he sprawled on the rug later that night, which was quickly becoming his favorite thing in Kirino's apartment. The ride home had been very quiet and it had unsettled him. He wanted things between them to be normal again before he went back home tonight.<p>

Kirino, who was still wearing her dress but was now barefoot, quickly stood up from her chair beside the rug. Kyousuke abruptly grabbed her ankle to prevent her from leaving, and while it did work, he didn't appreciate narrowly avoiding a kick to his face.

"Sit," he said. He had, of course, meant for Kirino to go back to the chair she'd previously occupied, but she had, instead, chosen to sink down on the rug beside him. Kyousuke blinked and almost forgot what he was going to say.

"It's not that I think too lowly of myself to be able to enjoy hanging out with people like that," he began after a surprised pause, trying to explain why he had wanted to leave the place as soon as possible. "It's just that, well, I was really uncomfortable. I wasn't prepared. I knew nobody there and no one was making an effort to talk to me either. And you weren't really talking to me either."

He saw Kirino swallow and look away from him. There was another thing that was bothering him about the party but he didn't think it was the right time to talk about that yet. Or ever.

He waited for a few minutes for Kirino to talk, and when she didn't, Kyousuke reached for the remote and turned the television on, partly because he was never comfortable without having at least some noise in the background, but mostly because he wanted to ease the tension in the air.

He settled for watching one of those late night reality shows that always irritated him, but he put up with it because he thought it was way better than watching Kirino pointedly ignore him. He glanced at her every now and then just to see what she was doing. After the end of an episode, he glanced back at Kirino and was surprised to see her lying down beside him, eyes closed and breathing deeply as if she was sleeping. Kyousuke hesitantly poked her on the shoulder and, when she didn't stir, became convinced that she really _was_ asleep, and not just faking it so that she wouldn't have to talk to him. Kyousuke turned back to the television and decided to give his sister enough time for a short nap before he woke her up so that he could go home. Maybe fifteen minutes would be enough.

* * *

><p>Kyousuke squinted his eyes and reached around for a pillow to cover his face. It was too bright and all he really, really wanted was to just sleep some more, but that damned sun-<p>

His eyes flew open as he came to his senses and remembered where he was. He immediately sat up and almost immediately regretted it, his head pounding in the same way that it always did when he was forced to wake up too early. Clutching his head, and still hating the sun, he glanced around and saw that his sister, who he recalled had fallen asleep beside him, was now gone. There was a sour taste in his mouth and he looked down, and yes, he had indeed fallen asleep still wearing the clothes he'd worn to the party. Thankfully, he'd somehow chucked off his shoes in his sleep.

Damn, damn, damn. He hadn't meant to fall asleep, but the show on television had been so dull and he'd been so tired... He had a mild panic attack as he realized that his parents would have been worried about him. He felt in his pocket for his phone and saw that he had missed a _lot_ of calls , most of them from Manami and... just one from his mother. He didn't know what to make of that.

He quickly sent a message to Manami, assuring her that he was fine and he was sorry he missed her calls, also promising to explain later. He was just about to put back his phone in his pocket when it rang.

"Mom," he answered nervously.

"Well, how was it?" his mother said. He thought he could detect a mischievous tone in her voice somewhere.

"How was what?" he asked blankly.

"Well, you know. You start going home late at night, and then you're out _all_ night-" His mother paused to chuckle, "-so what's a mother supposed to think? I could get mad of course, but really, you're old enough and I'm just glad you're finally getting _some_-"

"Mom!" he screeched. He really, really, with all of his being, did not want to hear his mother finish that sentence. "It's not what you think!"

Suddenly, the door to the bathroom opened and Kirino strolled out, wearing a huge, fluffy, bathrobe. He couldn't stop himself from deeply inhaling the smell that wafted through the air. Fruity. Definitely something fruity. Like strawberries.

"Kyousuke, wake up!" she yelled, without looking at him. So, of course, she didn't see him as he struggled, too late, to cover his phone's mouthpiece.

"Ohohoho, she's awake!" his mother cried out, almost gleefully. "She doesn't sound too happy with you; maybe you didn't do a very good job, dear?"

He could feel his face go pale. Hell, he could feel his whole _body_ go pale.

"Mom," he managed to choke out. "It's really not what you think." He knew his mother wouldn't believe him, but he thought it was still well worth repeating.

"Oh, you're awake," Kirino suddenly said loudly. "Who are you talking to?"

He heard his mother chuckle again and Kyousuke, all in one breath, said, "Mom, I really have to go, it's really not what you think it is, and I'll talk to you later!"

He almost chucked the phone away from him as he abruptly ended the call but managed to stop himself just in time. Kirino was already on her way downstairs and Kyousuke hurriedly stood up and struggled with his shoes.

"I fell asleep," he said to her back as she went straight to her kitchen.

"Yeah."

Kyousuke approached his sister and watched as she pulled out a box of cereal and two bowls from an overhead cabinet and placed them on the small table adjacent to one of the walls. "You fell asleep too," he said, almost accusingly.

"Uh-huh." She was now pouring milk over some cereal on one of the bowls.

"Look, Mom thinks-"

"Get a spoon."

"Huh?"

"Over there," she said, pointing at another cabinet.

Kyousuke, without even thinking about it, grabbed two spoons and sat down across from his sister. He handed Kirino one spoon and pulled the other bowl closer to himself.

"So, what does Mom think?" Kirino asked suddenly.

"Huh?"

Kirino rolled her eyes. "You were about to say something earlier."

"Oh, that." Kyousuke stalled by slowly pouring cereal and milk into his bowl. Now that he had calmed down a little and had some time to think, he realized that it really wasn't wise to tell his sister about his conversation with their mother.

"Nothing," he finally said. He decided to change the subject when Kirino arched an eyebrow at him. "What are you doing today?"

"University."

"What?"

"I have to go to the university. To the library. I need to borrow some books for this class."

Kyousuke blinked at that. With his sister's career as a model, it was sometimes easy to forget that she was still just a student. "But the library's closed on Sundays."

"It's not."

"It is," he insisted. Weren't all libraries supposed to be closed on Sundays? And besides, who studied on a Sunday? Well, his sister did, apparently.

"It's not, idiot," Kirino retorted. "You'll see."

* * *

><p>He didn't know how it happened, but he had somehow ended up walking his sister to the library at the university. And what do you know, it <em>was<em> open. Kirino pointed out a sign hanging by the door and smirked at him as he read aloud _Sunday, 9:00 A.M. to midnight_.

He stared in surprise at his sister and she triumphantly stared back at him, still with that smirk on her face. "Okay, fine. You win," he muttered, grudgingly admitting defeat.

A sudden, loud noise, like someone intentionally coughing, reached his ears. He looked behind him and saw a man, presumably another student, dryly say, "Excuse me."

They apologized and moved out of the way to let the other pass through. Kyousuke blushed as he heard the man mumble something about "kids" and "dates" and "sappy goodbyes." Kirino outright laughed at him and pointed out his flushed face, which just made him blush even more.

"So," he began awkwardly. Kirino quieted down, though a few chuckles still managed to escape her lips every now and then. Kyousuke decided to ignore it. "Um... See you later?"

His sister's mood changed and she looked decidedly uncomfortable. "Thanks for last night," she mumbled, looking somewhere over to his left shoulder.

Kyousuke suddenly felt like clearing his throat. "It was nothing," he mumbled back, staring at the sign that had caused him his earlier defeat and was still hanging innocently by the door. How had he never noticed that sign before?

"Okay, I'm going in now," his sister said, breaking the silence.

"Okay, bye," he replied, still standing in front of her. He urged his feet to move since he was feeling strangely reluctant to leave. When his body finally decided to obey him, Kyousuke hesitantly turned around to leave but was stopped by his sister grabbing his sleeve.

He was a bit surprised to see that his sister's cheeks were stained a bit red. "Not later," she said, still mumbling.

He turned back to fully face her again. "What?"

"Tomorrow."

"Huh?"

"You said, 'see you later', so I'm saying not later, because I have something else to do, but tomorrow." All this was said in a rush and he felt very lucky that he managed to understand his sister's words, because he sincerely doubted that his sister would repeat them for him. Kyousuke, for the life of him, couldn't understand why he suddenly felt like grinning. "Tomorrow is okay, then?"

"Yes."

"Okay, tomorrow," he confirmed brightly. His sister took one glance at him, turned beet red, and abruptly entered the library, slamming the huge door behind her. Kyousuke blinked at the closed door, his smile growing wider.

Adorable. Really.

It was only when he noticed the strange stares he was getting on the train that he realized he was still grinning like a loon.


	6. Chapter 6

Here's the next chapter. I'm so sorry for the long delay, and I won't bore you with my excuses. I've probably lost most of my readers, but I've already committed myself to finishing this story. So the last few chapters will be up soon.

Thanks to all those who have sent me reviews and/or messages. I really appreciated that. And thanks to my beta, who's been patiently reminding me to upload this chapter (which, I admit, has been stuck in my laptop for a while).

Disclaimer: I do not own Oreimo

* * *

><p>"What happened last night, Kyou-chan?" Manami asked as they entered the grocery store a few blocks away from his house. He was staring uncomprehendingly at the shopping list his mother had handed him earlier. He somewhat disliked this chore but when he had found out that they were running out of food, he'd generously offered to do it. Anything to get him out of the house and away from his mother's knowing smirks.<p>

"Manami, what's a-" Kyousuke squinted at his mother's nearly incomprehensible handwriting, "-turmeric?"

"It's a curry ingredient," she said, snatching the list from his hands. She took one look at it, grabbed a cart, and hauled Kyousuke towards an aisle.

"Thanks for helping me with this," he said, glad that he had Manami to help. He wondered how other men his age fared without someone like her in their lives.

Manami paused in grabbing a bottle of ketchup from a shelf and looked at him keenly. "You owe me," she said, unexpectedly stern.

Kyousuke stared at her, surprised at her suddenly firm countenance, but decided to let it go. He _did_ owe her an explanation after all.

He relaxed as she placed the bottle on the cart and resumed walking down the aisle.

"Kirino asked me to come over and then we went to a party," he finally said, grabbing the cart from Manami so he could help in at least some way.

"What party?"

"This birthday party thing for one of the models at the agency."

Manami's pace suddenly faltered.

"Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," Manami hastily said. She paused for a while before stuttering, "Mo-models, Kyou-chan?"

"Yeah."

"Were they..." Manami hesitated before continuing, "beautiful?"

Kyousuke glanced curiously at Manami, who was intently studying the list in her hand. What an odd question. Suddenly, he understood and his mouth quirked as he tried to hold his smile in.

"Nah," he said loudly, subtly (or not so subtly) placing an arm around Manami's shoulders. He saw Manami's face instantly flush. "Kirino was the only beautiful woman there."

Kyousuke frowned as he felt Manami's shoulders tense. Maybe she wasn't comfortable with public displays of affection, no matter how tame? He quickly muttered an apology and dropped his hand back to his side.

"It's okay, Kyou-chan," she said, her pace just a bit faster than usual.

"Are you sure?"

"I'm fine," she insisted and gave him an assuring (he hoped) smile. Manami resumed stocking the cart, checking off items on the list with a pen that had come out of nowhere, while Kyousuke tried to sneak extra items into the cart. They started talking about Manami's younger brother and how frustrated she was getting with him.

"I _know _he's a teenager, but- Kyou-chan? What are you doing?"

Kyousuke immediately closed the lid of the bottle he was holding and placed it back on the shelf. He spun around and saw Manami giving him a strange look.

"Were you just smelling..." Manami peered behind him, "...strawberry shampoo?"

"Ahahaha..." Kyousuke rubbed the back of his neck nervously. "No."

"But I just saw you-"

"I was just curious."

"So you _were_ smelling it?"

"I happen to like strawberry," he said, almost snapping defensively.

"Since when?"

_Since yesterday_. Kyousuke blinked at that thought and frowned. "Since..." He took one look at the cart and his eyes widened. "Oh, wow, would you look at all that stuff? I think we need to pay now, Manami," he said in a rush, quickly pushing the cart towards the counter. "I don't think Mom gave me enough money for this and I really don't want to have to pay the rest."

Manami gave him another bewildered look but said nothing as she followed him.

* * *

><p>"Kirino! I brought pizza!" Kyousuke shouted as he struggled to balance the said box of pizza on one hand while turning the bolt on the door that Kirino was so adamant on using. He nearly dropped the pizza when his sister suddenly approached him from behind.<p>

"You!"

Kyousuke froze at his sister's harsh tone. Slowly, he turned around and faced his sister. "Me?"

"Get out," she hissed, pointing at the door behind him.

Kyouske glanced at the door, knowing that it was a stupid thing to do, but doing it all the same. "Huh?"

He had absolutely no idea why his sister was acting so hostile towards him right now. It had been months since he'd first visited Kirino at her apartment, and he'd slowly started dropping by more often. In the past few weeks, he'd found himself going over to her place at least thrice a week.

A loud clang startled them both. He looked down and saw that the keys he'd placed on top of the pizza box had slid to the floor. Keys which Kirino had given him (if throwing it at his head could be called that), after finding him sitting in the lobby chatting with the receptionist while waiting for Kirino to come home from wherever.

His sister had seemed pretty much fine with him unexpectedly appearing at odd times during the day. Indeed, he'd even made a habit of letting himself in and making himself comfortable on one of the couches, either watching one of Kirino's movies or listening to music.

So the way Kirino was acting right now seemed really odd to him, more so than the usual. If Kirino had seriously objected to his visits, surely she would have protested before? Unless, there was something inside which Kirino desperately didn't want him to see. Or Kirino had other visitors.

"Mom and Dad are coming over, you idiot!"

His eyes widened and, in a sudden rush of panic, he turned back to the door and started unbolting the lock. He couldn't stop the cry of pain that emerged from his throat as his sister suddenly punched him in the shoulder.

"It's too late, you idiot, they're on their way. Mom just called. They're probably on the elevator as we speak."

And indeed, the doorbell rang and Kyousuke could faintly hear their mother's voice.

Kirino pointed up the stairs and mouthed the words, "My room." He nodded and ran as quickly as he could to his sister's bedroom, closing the door quietly behind him.

* * *

><p>Of all the things he thought he would be doing in his life, never did he imagine that he would one day get to eat pizza while lying sprawled underneath his sister's bed. But here he was, grumpily munching on a pizza while lying on his back, his head turned sideways so that he would have enough space to eat without his nose bumping into the wooden bed frame. Luckily, his sister was a bit of a neat freak, so it wasn't too dusty where he was right now. It was also probably a good thing that the floor was carpeted. Still, it was a very uncomfortable position to be in. It got so to the point that he didn't even feel the slightest bit guilty when Kirino entered the room later and started screaming about how that greasy smell would stick to the bed and to all of her clothes.<p>

_Her fault_, he sourly thought. "You try hiding under a bed for 5 hours."

"Idiot, it's only seven pm," she hissed.

Kyousuke started a bit at that. "Oh? They were gone so fast?"

"I rushed through dinner. And subtly suggested they go see this movie-" she broke off as she stared at Kyousuke. "Why were you under the bed?"

"Where was I supposed to go?"

"You could have just sat on the floor."

"Not on the bed?"

He was then promptly hit it in the face with a (thankfully soft) pillow that, amazingly enough, smelled like his sister. And it was a good thing his hands were greasy and that he had developed a healthy sense of self-preservation, so that he knew grabbing that pillow and sniffing it was probably not a good idea. The pillow slid to the floor and Kirino quickly picked it up and dumped it on the bed.

"Let's go," she said, turning around and heading for the door. "My room stinks of pizza."

He was on his last slice when he brought up the subject of Kuroneko.

"So... Kuroneko and I talked the other day."

Kirino calmly took a sip from her glass and raised an eyebrow at him. "Oh?"

"And you know how I owe her that favour for letting me know where you lived?"

His sister's other eyebrow rose to join the first one. "Actually, I didn't know that."

_Oops._

"But thanks for letting me know," she said smoothly. "I'll make sure to thank Kuroneko next time I see her."

Kyousuke gulped at that and squirmed in his seat. "So, I was saying, she's demanding that I treat her to coffee this weekend."

He saw his sister's lips pinch together tightly and glanced up just in time to see her glaring at him.

"And I was just wondering if you wanted to come with us," he hurriedly continued. "And I know you don't like coffee too much, and that you probably see her a lot anyway, but I thought you just might want to, you know, see us both at the same time, preferably in a place where..." he trailed off as he realized Kirino was still glaring at him.

"...And I'm not making any sense, am I?" he asked. His sister scowled at him.

He sighed and started wiping his hands with a napkin. "I just thought you'd maybe want to join us."

"Why would I want to join you?" she snapped.

"So you're not going to join us?"

He jumped a little as Kirino unexpectedly shoved her chair back. Unfortunately, the sudden movement caused Kirino to accidentally knock over her glass, earning Kyousuke a soaked shirt.

"Kirino!" he cried, standing up. He snatched the napkin his sister was giving to him and tried to stop the drink from drenching his pants too.

After a while, he glanced up and saw that Kirino had grabbed a rag and was wiping the table. "You still have some shirts left in the bottom drawer," she said, reminding him that he'd taken to leaving a few of his clothes at his sister's place after settling into a routine of staying over almost every Friday.

"Thanks," he absently replied, already halfway up the stairs. He paused as he heard his sister mutter something. "Huh? Did you say something?"

"I'll join you this weekend," she said stiffly.

"Oh, that's... that's really great. Really great. Awesome. Because you know that Kuroneko sometimes says things that are a bit weird and I don't always know how to react to them. And, for some reason, I know that you don't like me meeting your friends without you. And I'm either too quiet or too talkative and that's—" he abruptly cut himself off as he realized that he was rambling. "Thanks," he finished, smiling brightly at her, and resumed going up the stairs.

He thought he heard her say something under her breath but decided not to aggravate Kirino further by asking.

* * *

><p>It was with a sinking feeling that he realized he should have invited Saori along as well.<p>

He'd always known that the two girls sitting in front and beside him liked to express their deep bond of friendship through constant, volatile arguments that always left Kyousuke feeling a bit confused and sometimes even left him with a slight headache. But it had been several years since the two had first met, and he'd reasonably assumed that their friendship had matured along with them.

"Why are you staring at my hair?"

"No reason," Kuroneko replied with a smirk.

Kirino huffed and said, "I know I'm not going to like your answer but you might as well tell me."

"Fine, then. I was just wondering if you've grown a little, or if your hair just got puffier."

"Why, you..."

Apparently, he'd been wrong. The two were still bickering as much as they did when they were younger. Kyousuke decided to tune out their argument and instead went to the counter to order another cup of coffee for himself and to grab a newspaper.

A half hour had passed by the time he looked up from his reading and realized that the two were no longer arguing. Instead, Kirino had her arms crossed and was pointedly looking away from Kuroneko, while the latter was staring at him, amused.

"What?" he cautiously asked.

"You have a girlfriend," Kuroneko said in a way that brought to mind all of the possible ways this conversation could go wrong. He gave his sister a side-glance and saw her still pointedly looking away.

"Um... yeah?"

"Who is it?"

He snuck another look at his sister and thought about the risks of not answering Kuroneko's questions. "It's... that girl who I was always with in high school? You remember Manami?"

"Oh, her," Kuroneko flatly replied and glanced at his sister. "It figures."

Kyousuke pinched his eyebrows and considered asking her what she meant by that. Giving in to his curiosity, he finally asked, "Why are we talking about this?"

"Hmm... I wonder why."

If this was a new sadistic trick of Kuroneko's, there was no way he was getting out of this. "No, seriously, why?"

Kuroneko leaned forward and Kyousuke readied himself for her next words. "Does Kirino," she asked in a mock whisper, "get angry whenever you talk about your girlfriend?"

Huh? That was an unexpectedly unusual question to ask, but then again, Kuroneko was a strange person. At least this question was relatively normal compared to all those times she'd asked him things that had either made him feel awkward and embarrassed ("Boxers or briefs, Kyousuke?") or baffled and stupid ("How many times can you fold this piece of paper... and why?").

At least this time, it was a question he'd actually been pondering himself.

Kyousuke surveyed his sister, who was now firing a glare at her friend but was still not saying anything.

"Could she be..." Kuroneko paused, waiting for him to look at her, "...jeal-"

"Hey!"

Kyousuke jumped in surprise at his sister's sudden cry. He looked at her just in time to see her blush travel from her ears to her cheeks. "You're jealous?" he asked incredulously.

Kirino turned even redder. "Of course not!"

"You're lying," he said without thinking. He winced as he saw his sister's glare grow more intense.

"And you're a self-assuming idiot," she retorted.

Kyousuke frowned at her but decided to let it go. There was no way he could touch this subject safely, no matter how much he wanted to. And it was also obvious that his sister was feeling more than a little uncomfortable. Which was, come to think of it, probably Kuroneko's intention all along. Silently wishing again that Saori was with them, Kyousuke attempted to change the flow of the conversation by bringing up the latest manga news he'd researched specifically for this outing.

* * *

><p>"Spit it out, idiot," were the first words Kirino said to him after he'd spent hours waiting for his sister to finish her latest shoot. It was very convenient that there was a park right across the studio.<p>

She snatched the fruit juice he'd been sipping, wiped the end of the straw with her fingers, and proceeded to turn it around, thrusting the now wiped end into the cup and sipping from the other end. She also somehow managed to flop down gracefully beside him on the bench.

"You know that doesn't really get rid of the saliva right?"

Kirino merely waved her hand at him and mumbled around the straw, "I'm thirsty."

Kyousuke shrugged his shoulders and resumed watching some kids romping around on the playground across the park.

"So, like I said, spit it out."

Kyousuke regarded his sister and wondered how she always knew when he had something on his mind.

"I'm thinking of getting my own place," he admitted after a pause, knowing that Kirino would eventually bully him into saying it anyway.

He blinked at the sudden blank look his sister was wearing. "What?"

"Did I hear it right? You're moving out?"

"Yeah…" he said slowly, frowning at the look his sister was giving him. In his mind, he heard one of the alarm bells that had developed after almost a year of constantly being around Kirino, starting to ring. This particular bell was telling him that he'd said something wrong again and he swallowed, backtracking on everything he'd said and wondering what it was that had offended his sister. He'd found out before, with Kuroneko's help, that this usually happened whenever he started talking about Manami. But he hadn't even mentioned her name, and he was also sure that his moving out couldn't in any way be connected with her.

"Getting your own place?"

"Uhm… well, I'd have to if I'm moving out, right?"

She glared at him. "Alone?"

Aha. Apparently he'd underestimated the workings of Kirino's mind.

"Of course, alone!" he said. "Why is this an issue anyway?"

His sister sniffed haughtily and he barely managed to repress the sudden smile that threatened to overtake his face at the sight. He'd winced at first at the adjective that came to his mind, but it really was cute, the way Kirino would twitch her nose and look away from him whenever he got around to asking her why some of the things that bothered her actually did.

"Do you already have a place picked out?" she snapped, still not looking at him.

"Well, actually, I thought you could help me out?" he tentatively suggested. In reality, it was actually a spur of the moment thought, and he knew that he just might regret it later on. But Kirino's eyes had suddenly brightened and he mentally gave himself a pat on the back.

"On the condition that you buy me dinner."

"Later?"

"Yes. And this Friday."

"But we always have dinner together on Friday," he said, rising from his seat and following his sister as she started walking in the direction of her apartment. It was more convenient to take the bus from this area but it had become a bit of a tradition for them to bear the long walk. Kyousuke didn't really mind since he never grew bored listening to Kirino rant about her day.

"I'm not in the mood to cook this Friday. And, before you say anything, no more pizza. I almost couldn't fit into that dress they were making me wear… And you should know that if you ever bring a girl to your place and I catch you, you are going to suffer horribly and painfully."

Kyousuke didn't even blink at the sudden change in topic. He was used to his sister saying random things before she suddenly got around to saying whatever it was that was really bothering her.

"I promise," he said, meaning it. Because, really, who else would he bring over to his place? He didn't want her to misinterpret his invitation. Besides, Manami was often too busy these days with her part-time job as a research assistant. Kyousuke still found it a bit ironic that they'd grown more distant when they were together as a couple than when they were just friends.

Kyousuke allowed himself a brief smile as he spied his sister's shoulders loosening a bit from the corner of his eye.

"So, why not pizza?" he said, changing the topic in an effort to ease his sister further.

He listened to Kirino rant about the demerits of eating greasy food and responded accordingly, by taunting her with all those times he'd brought a box of pizza and she'd eaten almost as much as him.

Before he realized it, they had reached her apartment. Kirino greeted the receptionist and Kyousuke proceeded to wait for her near the elevator. He looked up as he heard the elevator open and stared dumbfounded at the person standing inside.

"Dad?"


	7. Chapter 7

Thank you to all those who took the time to read and review! And thanks to my beta, who has been incredibly patient with me.

Disclaimer: Don't own this.

* * *

><p>To his dad's credit, the only indication he gave that he was surprised was a slight widening of the eyes which very quickly morphed back into his normal stoic expression.<p>

Kyousuke, on the other hand, was left with his mouth still hanging slightly open, struggling to remind himself that running away right now was a terrible idea. Besides, there was no way he could escape his father. They lived in the same house.

"Dad?" Kirino called out behind him, her voice tinged slightly with surprise. "What are you doing here?"

"I was investigating something in the area and thought I'd drop by." Their father's gaze then switched to him, and Kyousuke gulped reflexively. He could almost hear his dad's unspoken question. _And what's your excuse?_

Kyousuke chuckled nervously and scratched his neck. "I was just roaming the area looking for an apartment. I've already told you about my plans. Then I saw Kirino, and decided to walk her back here since it was getting dark."

"You're not getting a place here," his dad said firmly.

"That thought never even crossed my mind," Kyousuke quickly said.

"You can't even afford it here."

"I get it, I get it, Dad."

They both glanced at Kirino when they heard her chuckle.

"Sorry, it's nothing. Anyway, I think it would be best if we all continue this conversation in my apartment. We could order some food and have dinner."

What a terrible idea. He looked at their father, who was already walking back towards the elevator. Would they notice if he just slipped away? He knew that there was a back door somewhere in the hallway to their left. He was distracted from plotting his escape when Kirino pinched him. "I know what you're thinking," she hissed. "Don't you dare leave me here, or you will regret it."

Kyousuke gulped and smiled weakly at his sister. "I would never," he said, meekly trailing after his sister.

Their impromptu dinner was every bit as uncomfortable as he had imagined. Well, at least it seemed to be on his side. For the most part, Kirino was acting as she usually would during their meal times when she was still living with them, though she was a bit more talkative than usual. Kyousuke thought it must have been to divert their father's attention to her, and he felt immensely grateful.

Almost two hours later, Kyousuke heaved a huge sigh of relief when he heard the door finally closing behind their father. He was glad that Kirino had somehow convinced their father to leave while he was still doing the dishes, a service he had gallantly offered with the ulterior motive of escaping any further potential conversation.

He heard Kirino chuckle behind him. "That was…" she trailed off as another bout of laughter escaped her.

"Awkward. Scary. How on earth did you manage to get him to leave so early? _And _with me still here?" he asked, wiping his hands on the towel kept conveniently near the sink.

"It's a secret," she said in a mock whisper. "Just be thankful I'm that great or things could have gone worse."

"Yeah, I suppose," he said, turning around to face his sister. An uncomfortable silence settled between them as Kyousuke contemplated exactly how much worse it could have been. He assumed that Kirino was thinking the same thing too, judging from the frown that had settled on her face.

"I think…" Kyousuke looked up as he heard his sister speak. "I think you should go now."

He swallowed around a suddenly tight throat. "Why?"

"Dad will probably be waiting for you to get home," she quickly said, looking determinedly away from him.

"Is that all?" he asked, feeling uncharacteristically bold.

His sister scowled at him, and said, her voice slightly rising, "What do you mean, _is that all?_"

"I mean, that-" Kyousuke paused as he realized that he had no idea what he meant. Or he did, possibly, but it was something he thought would never fully understand, much less be able to voice. "Nothing. Just forget it," he finally said, and walked past his sister towards the living room, where he had placed his bag earlier. A hand tugging his sleeve made him stop in his tracks.

"I'm sorry," Kirino said so softly that Kyousuke instinctively turned towards her. "It's just that I get so confused sometimes-"

"It's okay. I get confused sometimes, too," he interrupted. It was a great relief to him to learn that he apparently wasn't the only one feeling confused, but he sincerely feared hearing whatever it was his sister was confused about. If he learned, even just a bit, that what his sister was having doubts about was the same as what had been lurking in the back of his mind for what seemed like forever, then there was no telling what would happen. He gently moved to remove his sister's hand, which had drifted towards his wrist and was subsequently burning a hole in his skin, but paused when he saw the look on his sister's face.

Before he realized what he was doing, his arms were already wrapping themselves around his sister. He felt Kirino stiffen at the unexpected change in position, but when he refused to release her, she gradually relaxed.

"What are you doing, you idiot," she said, voice a bit muffled by his shirt, which Kirino, in contrast to her words and tone, had buried her face into.

He supposed he could have stated the obvious, but he settled for just tightening his hold on her. When was the last time he had hugged his sister? He honestly couldn't remember. Holding Kirino this close felt exceedingly natural, even instinctive.

Kirino didn't say anything for a while but her next words made dread settle into his stomach, instantly erasing all his previously good feelings and making him a bit nauseous.

"Let's talk about this."

His throat went dry and despite the near proximity to his sister, he suddenly felt cold all over. He felt his arms moving away from his sister, but Kirino's arms were now also around him, preventing him from escaping. "Talk about what?"

"About this," she said.

Kyousuke genuinely hoped that she wasn't referring to the thoughts that he'd been trying so desperately to remain unaware of. Thoughts that were really not-thoughts, since they didn't actually exist. Except that he was smart enough to know that by forcing something into non-existence, there had to have been _something_ in the first place. The logic of it all made his head hurt and that was usually when he was given to distracting himself, usually by slapping himself on the head, which often garnered him strange looks. He didn't mind, since it was infinitely better than banging his head on the nearest conveniently located wall, which he had tried once and had quickly learned not do again.

"Let's not. I'd really rather not. In fact, I have no idea what you're talking about," he said, the words of denial flowing uncontrollably from his mouth. "Don't be angry," he added quickly, hoping that Kirino really wouldn't. They still fought often but most of the time, it was just about inconsequential matters. He had a feeling that if this, whatever _this _was, turned into a fight, it would be far from petty and would end with a lot of anger and misunderstanding on both sides. He took a deep breath to try to calm himself. "Please," he begged, sensing the indecision his sister was going through.

Kirino moved to untangle herself from his hug and he instantly moved back, feeling cold with the sudden loss of extra body heat. "Okay," she quietly said, still looking away from him. Strangely enough, instead of feeling relief settle through him, his chest tightened at those words.

He followed her into the living room and watched as she sat down on one a couch, dragging one of the throw pillows towards her while Kyousuke was left standing somewhat awkwardly to her side. It was clear that his sister was not going to be the first one to break the silence between then.

"I… should be going now. You're right, dad will most likely be waiting for me back home."

Kirino merely looked up at him and nodded.

Kyousuke grabbed his bag from the floor near the couch and nervously shuffled in place. "So… are you still going to help me with choosing an apartment? We could do it this weekend, if you want to," he cautiously offered.

Kirino glared at him. "Of course, idiot. Who else is going to help you if I don't?"

"Well, there's always Manami-" he stopped as the throw pillow his sister was hugging earlier was thrown into his face. "Hey! That's not very nice!"

Instead of responding to that, his sister merely said, "Sunday, ten A.M. And you're treating me to lunch."

"As usual," he muttered under his breath, tossing the pillow back to his sister. He turned to leave but stopped when he remembered something.

"Hey, Kirino, there aren't any cheap apartments around here, are there?"

His sister looked at him incredulously. "Are you serious? You'll have to room up with somebody."

Kyousuke grinned at Kirino, "I know someone who's been looking for a roommate."

"Who?" his sister asked suspiciously.

"I'll tell you this weekend!" he said over his shoulder as he walked toward the door. He heard his sister yelling behind him but didn't pay any attention, his mind busy going over his new idea.

* * *

><p>"Kyou-chan,"<p>

Kyousuke steered his gaze away from the window, where the school track team was currently practicing. It really was too bad that Kirino had given up the sport, choosing instead to focus on her studies and on her career. She would have been a great asset to the team and would have surely broken the dismal record their university had on the annual inter-school competitions. He turned towards Manami, who he was currently having lunch with.

"Huh? I'm sorry, what were you saying?"

Manami sighed gently. "It's been two months since you've moved out."

"Oh, yeah. Mom still gets frustrated when I go over every weekend just to drop off my laundry."

Manami chuckled. "You should really learn to wash your own clothes, Kyou-chan."

"I did try. But you know what happened the last time I did that. That was my favorite shirt. It's not like I have so many clothes that I can afford to shrink!"

She laughed at him again and Kyousuke found himself smiling.

"Kyou-chan, how about I come over and teach you how to do your own laundry?"

The smile faded from his lips and he shifted in his seat uneasily. "Manami, that's really nice of you, but…"

Manami flushed. "I'm sorry, Kyou-chan! It's not that I assume that you're incapable of doing stuff on your own, but it's just that I've never seen your apartment, and I'm a bit curious. I totally understand if you don't want me to see your apartment!"

Damn it. He'd been hoping that this topic would never come up between them, but apparently, that was too much to hope for. "Manami, it's not that. It's just that…" Kyousuke knew he was going to hate himself for what he was going to say next. "Well, Kohei and I made this rule not to invite any girl to our place."

Manami blinked at him once, and he clenched the fork he was holding in his hand, fearing that she was seeing right through him. He forced a smile. "Just a stupid guy rule, but it's still a promise."

"Oh… Kyou-chan, that's…" Manami paused as she cleared her throat. "Is there something you should be telling me?"

Kyousuke's eyes widened and the fork in his hand dropped with a loud clatter. "What makes you think that?" he asked frantically. If he concentrated enough, he was certain that he could also feel the sweat that was surely forming on his forehead at that moment.

"I would understand," Manami looked down at her lap, her hair falling into her face that was still flushed, before continuing, "It will hurt, but… but it's not like you can help it. And I want you to know that I will still be your friend."

Kyousuke felt his heart racing in his chest and he wondered just how Manami had managed to find out. Hell, he didn't even understand it himself. Recently, he had taken to reluctantly acknowledging some things which he had previously labelled as not-thoughts. But this was only done during his more honest moments with himself, which were few and far between, so for the most part, he still refused to comprehend, much less voice out loud those not-thoughts, ridiculous term be damned.

"Please, just tell me, Kyou-chan," she added so softly that Kyousuke almost had to lean over to hear.

"Manami…" His mouth had opened of its own accord, and he rushed to find the words that would make the most sense, not only to Manami but also to himself. He was just about to start when he felt someone sitting down on the chair beside him.

"Yo!" Kohei said, pulling out a sandwich before dumping his bag on the floor beside him.

"Kohei!" he greeted a little too enthusiastically, eager to grab the distraction at hand. "I thought you had class right now."

"I do, and I'm late, and that's why this is all I'm eating right now," he said in a rush, taking a huge bite out of his sandwich. He greeted Manami with a nod and a quick smile, snatching Kyousuke's drink at the same time. "Kyousuke, can I have this?" he asked.

"You're already holding it," Kyousuke said dryly.

"But I just thought I'd ask your permission. Do you mind?" Kohei said, grinning at him.

"And if I did?"

"Ah, well, too bad," Kohei countered with a cheeky grin still in place.

They both looked at Manami when they heard her call their attention. "Kohei," she said with a small smile. "You're just in time."

"Eh?" Kyousuke said, noticing that Manami was looking at the two of them strangely. "In time for what?"

"Kohei, Kyousuke and I were just talking about you-"

"We were?" Kyousuke broke in, puzzled at Manami's words.

"Um…yes," Manami said slowly, glancing at Kohei. "About your… relationship?"

Kyousuke's brain broke. Distantly, he thought he heard Kohei laughing beside him. _"Where_ did you get that idea?" he asked, feeling helplessly confused.

"You think that I… that Kyousuke and I are like _that?_" Kohei said, still chortling with laughter.

"Well… what was that flirting earlier? And the living together thing?" Manami said, flushing even more brightly.

Kyousuke felt his eye twitch as Kohei merely snorted into his drink beside him. "That was not flirting, Manami. That was friendly, _manly_ banter! And we're roommates, because neither of us can afford our own apartment. And _you_!" he cried, turning towards his friend, "Tell me why you're not more bothered by this!"

Kohei merely snickered and said, "Seriously? Just try having Sena for a sister. Every single male friend I've had, she thinks I'm having a relationship with." He placed the now-empty glass back on the table and stood up, grabbing his bag. "You get immune to it. Besides, I'm confident about my sexuality. Remember that girl I brought home last week, Kyousuke? "

Kyousuke's heart flat out stopped as he sensed Manami freeze up at Kohei's words. He barely heard Kohei saying goodbye as his thoughts scattered and he wondered with a sickening sense of dread just how Manami would react once she got over her surprise. Perhaps she wouldn't notice? But then again, Manami was smart.

"Kyou-chan…"

"Okay, it's not Kohei, it's Kirino," he admitted bluntly, knowing that nothing he could say right now would make any of this less terrible. "She made me promise not to bring any girls over. I'm sorry, Manami. I... I really don't know why I felt the need to lie to you about that but..." he trailed off as he realized that that was again not being completely honest, since he did know why. He sagged in his seat and waited for Manami to speak.

After what seemed like hours, but was actually only a few minutes, Manami finally spoke. "Kyou-chan, I'm sorry about mistaking you and Kohei being like… that. I've been talking with Sena lately... and I admit she did put some ideas in my head. I'm sorry about making that mistake, but what I said still stands."

"Huh?"

"I'm still going to be your friend, no matter what."

"What-" he broke off as he felt his throat choking his words.

Manami was staring at her lap and her hands were slightly shaking, but her voice was firm and resolute as she continued, "Kyou-chan, I don't think this is working. I think we're really better off as best friends."


	8. Chapter 8

It's finished! The next chapter is going to be the last one. Just have to review it a bit before posting. Thanks to all those who reviewed.

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><p>"Hello?"<p>

"Uh… hi. It's me, Kyousuke. You asleep?" he said, wincing as he glanced at the clock in his room and saw how late it was.

She let out a frustrated sigh that Kyousuke was by now well acquainted with. "Are you stupid?"

"Guess not. Sorry," he said, ignoring the insult. He shifted and sat up straighter in his bed. "Uh, so listen, I was wondering if I could come over."

"Now?" she asked, sounding a bit more awake.

He paused as he tried to come up with a good reason for barging into his sister's apartment in the middle of the night. In hindsight, he should have thought first before impulsively picking up his phone. Deciding to settle with the truth, he said, "Manami broke up with me."

There was a short, awkward silence on the phone. Just as he was about to go ahead and say something else probably just as rash, he heard his sister say, "Fine. Be here in 30 minutes."

The last thing Kyousuke heard was a click as she hung up on him.

Half an hour later, Kyousuke found himself awkwardly standing near his sister's bed. Shifting uneasily in place, he wondered if he should just turn around and head back home. He cleared his throat, hoping that it would be enough to wake his sister up. When that didn't garner any response, he tentatively said his sister's name.

Kirino's eyes slowly opened. "Oh, you're here already."

Kyousuke took a step backward, suddenly feeling uncomfortable standing too near the bed. "Yeah…"

She yawned and muttered something under her breath.

"Huh?"

"I said get in, idiot."

"What?"

His sister shot him an irritated look. "If you don't get in this bed right now, you might as well go back to your own place and cry on Kohei's shoulder."

He briefly grimaced at the idea and quickly said, "Ok, ok. Getting in now. Move over."

Kirino obligingly moved over to the other side of the bed. Kyousuke lay down on his back and was then promptly smacked in the face with a pillow.

"Hey!"

Kirino snorted beside him, moving so that she was now on her side, facing him.

"For a girl, you sure are violent."

She said nothing, choosing instead to smack him again in retaliation, her hand hitting his left arm.

"You're not really going to cry, are you?"

He blinked at her unexpected question. "No… that's… "

"Good. Now let me sleep."

Kyousuke let out a breath he didn't even know he had been holding and glanced at his sister. Her eyes were already closed and he could hear her breathing steadily getting deeper. The skin on his arm where Kirino's hand was still resting felt hot and was somewhat distracting.

He was sure that this wasn't the conventional way of comforting someone, but oddly enough, it seemed to make him feel better.

* * *

><p>Kyousuke woke up with a start.<p>

Where was he? Oh, right. He had fallen asleep watching Kirino sleep beside him, mildly amused by the light snoring she gave off from time to time. The sound was almost undetectable, and at some point it dawned on him that the only reason he was hearing it was because he was in bed right beside Kirino.

He got out of bed and called out his sister's name. Wondering where she was, he headed downstairs to the kitchen, and saw a note stuck under a glass on the counter.

_Early shoot, Shiba Park. If you're not there by 11, I'll assume you're either still asleep or dead. You owe me lunch. _

Kyousuke couldn't help but smile at his sister's tone.

* * *

><p>"Hey," he said, approaching his sister with a cautious smile on his face.<p>

"You're here," Kirino replied, waving away one of the shoot assistants who was fussing over her.

"I'm awake. Not dead."

"So I see."

"You, uh… didn't wake me up," Kyousuke said, glancing at his sister and just as quickly looking away. He wasn't sure but he thought he could feel his ears turning red.

"You looked like you were enjoying your sleep too much."

"Right," he said, his face now burning hot. "So… lunch?" he asked, trying to change the subject.

"That restaurant. Your treat."

"When hasn't it been?" Kyousuke grumbled under his breath. But his complaints sounded half-hearted, even to his own ears.

They hadn't even sat down at their usual table yet when Kirino asked her first question. "So, whose fault was it?"

"Whose fault was what?" Kyousuke replied, hoping that Kirino would get the hint and decide to talk about something else.

"Manami left you."

"Well, she didn't really leave me. I mean, we're still friends and all," Kyousuke said, sitting down. He smiled at the waitress as he ordered for the two of them, already knowing what his sister wanted. Kirino glared at him but waited for the waitress to move to another table before continuing their conversation.

"But?" she prompted, waving a hand in a gesture that was clearly meant to encourage him to say something more.

"But… what?"

"Kyousuke," his sister said in a warning tone.

"Fine. I'll talk. Things are just going to be a bit awkward for a while. But we talked about it and she said that we'll get over it and we're still going to be friends."

"And what do you think?"

Kyousuke took his time answering, thanking the waitress who had quickly delivered their food and taking a slow sip of the tea he had ordered. "I… think it's going to be really awkward for a long time. And, uhm… it was my fault. A little. I think."

"Oh?" she said, curiously.

"Well, I may have lied to her."

"What about?"

"She found out about your stupid rule."

"What stupid rule?"

"The stupid apartment rule."

Kirino glared at him. "That rule is not stupid."

"Of course it is, Kirino. I mean, do you actually think I'd bring anyone over?"

"There's always Manami."

"Well, so what if I do invite her back to my place? She is-was-my girlfriend, and I have every right to bring her back to my place, if she wanted to."

"If you wanted it so badly, why didn't you?!"

"Because of your stupid rule! And because I didn't really want to," he said. Taking a harsh breath, he quickly continued. "Besides, the only person I want to and do bring over is you, and what does that say about our relationship? Because, seriously, if you think about it, there seems to be something wrong with that."

Kirino stiffened in her seat, and uttered through clenched teeth, "Shut up, you idiot. We're not talking about this."

Kyousuke huffed and said, "Fine. Let's not."

She scowled at him and proceeded to stare out the window. Kyousuke took another bite of his sandwich, wondering how he could break the tense silence that had settled over them.

"I'm planning to go to America again."

The silence between them was quickly shattered. "What? Where?" Kyousuke said, hastily swallowing the food in his mouth. He wasn't sure but he thought he had heard Kirino say that she was _leaving_. Again. Granted, she didn't actually leave the first time, but still.

"America."

"Wha- Ame- How- Why?" he asked, voice rising.

"Keep your voice down, idiot."

Kyousuke quickly looked around and noticed that some of the other diners were staring at him. "Sorry," he said, clearing his throat. "But you can't just spring that on me and expect me to act all calm." He took a deep breath and looked back at Kirino, who was again scowling at him. "Why are you going there? And when will you be back? Is this another sports scholarship or something?"

"It's not a sports scholarship," Kirino snapped. "I quit the team, remember? My manager worked something out and there's this modeling agency there that- Would you please stop that?!"

Kyousuke immediately stopped jiggling his foot, not remembering when he had started doing it. Kirino stared pointedly at his hand, and he somehow managed to loosen his grip on the table, after some effort. "Sorry," he said again.

"What about school?"

"I already talked to Dad about it. It's just a couple of weeks until the end of the semester, and my professors have all agreed to me submitting my papers online. Or taking some exams earlier. Anyway, things might not work out and I could be there for just a few months."

"And if things do work out?"

"I could be there for a while."

"Oh," he said quietly, heart thumping in the same strange way that it did when he had found out that Kirino was planning to go abroad a few years back. He took a deep breath and tried to calm himself. He was just about to sit back when he realized he'd forgotten something. "When are you leaving?" he quickly asked.

Kirino met his eyes and paused.

"Next week."


	9. Chapter 9

Finally! Thanks to all those who reviewed... This is the last chapter.

* * *

><p>They were silent on the way back to Kirino's apartment. To be fair, Kyousuke did try to start a conversation, but every topic that he attempted to start with was swallowed by this uncomfortable silence that arrived during their earlier conversation and insisted on clinging to them throughout their walk.<p>

It also didn't help that Kirino kept shooting him these glares that made him feel like it was he who had done something wrong, when clearly it should be Kirino, who seemed too fond of keeping monumental, life-changing decisions to herself and only revealing them at the very last possible moment. Actually, if he thought about it, Kirino didn't even inform Kyousuke about her plans to go to America the first time around. Kyousuke had accidentally found out on his own. And this time, Kirino might have told him by herself, but only when she had finished talking to everybody else about it.

For a brief moment, Kyousuke considered breaking into Kirino's apartment during one of her classes and rummaging through her things, burning that damned plane ticket he was sure she had tucked somewhere safe. He shook his head, trying to dispel the stupid idea, and only managed to earn himself a weird look from his sister.

"So," he began a few minutes after they let themselves in the apartment. He moved aside Kirino's bag which she had dumped in the middle of the narrow hallway and watched as she got him a glass of tea. "Thanks," he muttered absently, momentarily distracted. He managed to finish his glass in three huge gulps and turned around to find Kirino sitting on the couch, rubbing her feet.

"Those shoes are too tight," she complained.

"Why didn't you tell them?" he asked, shoving her feet aside to sit beside her. Kirino made to move her feet to the floor, but he grabbed them instead and placed them in his lap. "You should have complained or something. You spent nearly an hour wearing them."

Kirino said nothing but hummed in contentment when he started to rub the heel of her left foot in slow circles.

"You're surprisingly good at that," she said.

"Yeah?" he replied, knowing that he wasn't making any sense but not wanting to clarify anyway. Instead, he dropped her left foot back in his lap and started on the other one.

"Your only talent," she answered back, giving him a lazy grin. Too tired to bother reacting to her taunt, he looked down at his hands and watched as they rubbed her feet, seemingly instinctively and hopefully soothing away the pain. He hadn't noticed how much time had passed until he glanced at Kirino and found her head and upper back resting on couch's arm rest, in a position that must surely be uncomfortable.

Gently easing her feet off his lap and back on to the couch, he stood up and yawned. He looked around the quiet apartment and wondered what he could do. He was tempted to look around for the plane ticket his sister must have around somewhere, but he quickly discarded the notion, having no idea what he would do if he did actually manage to find it.

Finally, he decided to go back to his own apartment. He quickly settled Kirino into a more comfortable position, by now used to his sister falling asleep at unexpected moments and in far more inconvenient places than her own couch. He left a note on the kitchen counter and stared at his sister for a moment before finally closing the door behind him.

* * *

><p>He went back late the next day, unannounced, and found her packing. The sight made him frown and a strange feeling that he couldn't quite define yet made him want to grit his teeth and curl his palms into fists.<p>

"Hey," he said in greeting, voice a little too loud in the quiet of Kirino's room.

Kirino looked up from where she was crouched on the floor. "Hi. Can you help me bring this downstairs?" she said, pointing to the luggage in front of her.

Kyousuke glanced at it and imagined throwing it out of the window. "You want to grab a bite outside? And maybe we can stop by the video rental store, there's this movie I've been wanting to check out."

"Dinner and a movie." She gave him an amused look. "Are you paying?"

"It's my turn to pay anyway," he called over his shoulder, having already turned around to exit the room.

"Of course it is, idiot," she said and followed him.

It was almost midnight when they returned, their moods cheerful and relaxed. They had spent longer than they needed to at the fast food place a few blocks away, with Kyousuke listening to Kirino's stories, devouring most of her food on top of his own. Kirino claimed that she wasn't that hungry and was already content with slowly munching on the fries that she had also ordered.

He heard Kirino laugh at something he'd said as he closed the door behind him. He turned around to find that she hadn't moved from the entry way and was facing him, looking up at him with a smile on her lips and on her eyes too.

Without thinking about it, Kyousuke moved forward. It was a gentle meeting of mouths, their lips were closed and his eyes had, at some point, also drifted shut. The slight pressure of his hand on her waist matched that of the pressure between their lips, soft but not at all tentative, just the feeling that this was something not out of the ordinary at all. Like they did this every day and therefore felt none of the urgency and nervousness that usually came along with first kisses.

That was a kiss, was his first thought as they both pulled apart, reluctance making their movements slower than usual. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he knew something huge had just happened, something that told him he needed to stop impulsively following his instincts and just _think_. But it seemed so much easier to move forward again and just rest his forehead on hers, their lips almost touching. From here, he could easily kiss her again if he wanted too, and he knew, from the look in her eyes and the way that she was still smiling at him, that she wanted it too.

"This isn't awkward at all," he whispered, out of the blue.

"No, it isn't," she readily agreed.

He didn't know what to say to that so he settled for kissing her again. This one lasted a bit longer, but it was also just as gentle and sweet as their first. The kiss naturally ended and Kirino took a step backward.

"Is this about me leaving?" she asked quietly.

Oh. He had forgotten about that. "I'm not sure," he answered honestly.

Kirino gave him a long, scrutinizing look and he stared right back at her, not knowing what he should do. "I'm going to sleep now," she said, still looking at him. "You can have the couch."

He watched as she climbed up the stairs and waited for a few minutes before her door had closed before slipping out of her apartment. He'd then spent a few minutes standing uneasily just outside Kirino's building, wondering where he could go. For some reason, he felt unwilling to return to his apartment.

Pulling out his phone, he quickly sent a message to Manami.

_Are you still awake?_

He frowned as he checked the time.

_Sorry. You're probably already asleep. Call you tomorrow._

He placed his phone back in his pocket and, feeling like he had no other choice, started walking back to his apartment. He had just closed the door behind him when his phone rang.

"Hello?"

"Kyousuke? Is everything alright?"

"Manami? Why are you still awake?" he asked, surprised evident in his voice.

"I was studying for the- Never mind. What's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong," he quickly replied and took a quick look around. Kyousuke absently waved at him from his spot in front of the television.

"Please tell me, Kyou-chan."

He sighed as he reached his room. "Kirino's leaving. For America. It's real this time."

He heard Manami take a sharp intake of breath. "Oh, Kyou-chan. When?"

"A few days from now."

"And you just found out?"

"Yesterday. I didn't tell you immediately because-"

"It's okay, Kyou-chan. I understand. When is she coming back?"

"She's not sure. It could be a few months, or a few years, depending on how well her career goes."

Kyousuke stiffened as his mind suddenly began to process the fact that Kirino was going to leave. He'd known since yesterday, but it was just now that the idea was starting to sink in. All of a sudden, he felt a little angry.

"Manami, I think I need to hang up now."

"Kyou-chan?"

"I just need some time to think. I'll call you tomorrow, okay?î"

Manami sighed. "Alright, Kyou-chan. Despite what happened, just remember, I'm still your best friend. You can always talk to me."

He swallowed as he heard the sincerity and concern in her voice. "I know. That's why I came to you first with this. Thanks, Manami," he said before he hung up.

The slight anger he'd felt earlier was still present. His brow furrowed and he thought of the kiss he'd shared with Kirino earlier.

Kirino. His sister.

It had felt so natural to just close the distance between them and step into that kiss. Like nothing wrong was happening at all and that-

And maybe that was why he was feeling this anger. He had only just started to acknowledge his feelings for Kirino. And she was leaving before he could even have the chance to explore this... whatever this was that had just been revealed to them. Surely, this wasn't something new. They had probably been building up to this for years now, and he had probably been just too thick or too stubborn to see it for what it really was. His head hurt as it occurred to him that what they'd been doing these past few years could actually be called dating, and all in all, their earlier kiss was probably the logical next step in their relationship.

He didn't know what he was going to do. But he knew that he needed to figure things out soon if he didn't want to lose Kirino.

* * *

><p>The day before she was scheduled to leave, Kirino hosted a farewell party with her friends.<p>

"Did you get the drinks?"

"Yes, I got the drinks," he said, shutting the door behind him with his foot. His eyes shifted towards Kirino as she glared at him.

"You're late."

"No, I'm not," he automatically argued, even if he was a few minutes behind schedule. His mind flashed back to earlier that morning when he'd woken up beside Kirino, limbs entangled, and he had proceeded to wake her up with a kiss. He'd gotten kicked out of bed but it had been worth it to see Kirino's face red with embarrassment. The kisses they'd shared so far had all been chaste and sweet. Each time it happened, Kyousuke waited for the guilt and the remorse that he imagined should be there, but it never came. Instead, he found himself dividing his attention between revelling in how brilliant each kiss was and in trying to quell the hunger he could feel burning underneath each kiss. They weren't ready for anything more, yet.

He grinned at Kirino and she scowled at him, a light blush staining her cheeks as if she knew what he was thinking about. "Idiot," she muttered under her breath.

"Kyousuke-shi," a familiar voice called out. "Do you need any help with that?"

Kyousuke shifted his eyes away from Kirino and saw Saori standing near one of the windows. Behind her, he could see Kuroneko gazing contemplatively out the window.

"You're already here," he said in greeting.

"Don't look so surprised," Kirino snapped as she grabbed one of the bags in his hand. "You're late."

Kirino's other guests started to drift in, one by one. Kyousuke spent most of the time just sitting down on one of the couches he had somehow come to think of as his and staring at his sister as she expertly managed the crowd.

"You're awfully quiet," Kuroneko said as she sat down beside him.

"Well, you've been quiet too," he replied, feeling a bit defensive.

"It's because I've been quietly gathering information from all these..." she paused and scanned the room, "creatures."

Kyousuke's response was to blink at her twice. "You haven't changed at all, have you?"

"I see no need to," she sniffed. She made a motion as if she was going to stand up and leave him.

"Okay, look, I'm sorry," he said, quickly grabbing her arm. To his side, he saw Kirino shooting him a glare before returning to her own conversation.

Kuroneko huffed but settled back down beside him. "So, have you finally manned up and told Kirino about how you felt about her? Before she left?"

"What the- I don't-" Kyousuke spluttered, trying very hard to gather back enough of his mind to respond properly. "I'm not sure I get what you mean," he finally said.

"You know what I mean," Kuroneko said and smirked at him.

Kyousuke squirmed in his seat, suddenly feeling very apprehensive. "How did you know?"

"I didn't. But you just confirmed it," she said, sounding almost happy, and Kyousuke had to restrain himself against the urge to strangle her.

"I didn't tell her anything," he grumbled under his breath. "I kissed her."

For a precious moment, Kyousuke got to see what a dumbfounded Kuroneko looked like. He grinned at her before realizing what he'd just confessed. "Oh, shit."

Kuroneko scowled at him. "You're lying," she accused.

"Yes, yes I am," he quickly agreed.

"Oh, you're _not_ lying."

"No, no, I'm lying. I was definitely lying," he said, nodding vehemently. "Please believe me. Or I mean, don't believe me. Don't believe what i just said. Because I was totally lying-"

"Moron," Kuroneko cut him off. "Stop talking, you're making my head hurt."

She glanced at Saori, who was somehow blending in well with the rest of Kirino's friends, and called her over.

"This isn't happening," he said, voice muffled by his hands which he'd covered his face with.

"What's wrong?" Saori asked, sitting on Kyousuke's other side.

"Kyousuke confessed his illicit, illegal, and incredibly unconventional love for Kirino by kissing her," Kuroneko bluntly replied.

"Shut up," he hissed and strove for calm.

Saori looked intrigued. "That was very brave of you Kyousuke-shi." She sounded pleased.

"You're all reacting wrongly."

"You're the one who's reacting wrongly," Kuroneko said.

"What? Well, of course I am,. I mean, she's my sis-"

"That's not what I meant."

"Huh?"

"What she's trying to say, Kyousuke-shi, is that you shouldn't be ashamed of it."

"Ashamed?! There are so many things I should be feeling and I think that being ashamed should be one of the last things I have to worry about right now."

"Calm down, Kyousuke-shi. I didn't mean to offend you."

"I thought you'd be more accepting of this, given how the two of you have been dancing around each other for a long time now."

Kyousuke stared at Kuroneko blankly. "What?"

"Years even. Most likely before I've even met the two of you. It's amazing how you can be so stupid."

Kyousuke blinked at her. They had noticed?

"I'm not stupid," he said absently, still trying to measure just how dense he must have been to have missed this.

"Hmm, we surely have a different view of things," Kuroneko replied as she stood up. "I'm leaving now. I have to write about this in my blog."

Kyousuke quickly rose at her words. "You have a blog? Well, of course you do, but I don't think you should write about this!" he yelled after her.

Saori tapped him on his shoulder. "Don't worry, Kyousuke-shi. She's just teasing you. I think."

"But..."

"I'll call you later, okay?"

He weakly nodded at her and watched as she started saying goodbye to Kirino and her other guests. Feeling like he needed a break, he trudged up the stairs, hoping that no one would notice him, and locked himself inside Kirino's room.

* * *

><p>"Open the door, you idiot," he heard Kirino yell a few hours later.<p>

He quickly jumped off the bed and rushed to unlock the door. "Is the party over?" he asked, putting on what he hoped looked like an innocent smile.

"The last guest just left," she replied, stepping into the room and glancing around suspiciously. "What were you doing here?"

"I... felt like I needed a break. Too much noise."

"Uh-huh," she said, obviously unconvinced. "Kuroneko found out, didn't she?"

His jaw dropped open. "What- Why do you know that?"

"Saori."

"Ah. Right."

"Hey," Kirino said, her voice soothing him as she stepped closer to him. "It's okay. They won't tell."

"I know. I mean, I know we can trust them with this. But-" he paused as he ran a hand through his hair, "That's the problem, isn't it? I mean, everything's okay."

"How is that a problem?" Kirino asked and folded her arms in front of her.

"Look, Saori and Kuroneko, they found out about us but they're okay with it. They shouldn't be okay with it. I shouldn't be okay with it too, but with these past few days, I think it's quite apparent that I'm more than fine with it. And you..."

"I'm fine with it," she said, staring straight at him. Kyousuke sucked in a quick breath at the intensity of her gaze.

"Yeah. Yeah, you are," he said softly and closed the distance between them. One of his hands slipped to her cheek and he watched as she closed her eyes and kissed him.

"It's just so easy," he murmured against her lips. "We should be feeling, I don't know, upset or something. But it just seems so… easy. Natural. Not upset at all."

Kirino smirked at him. "You choose the strangest times to think too much."

"Huh."

"Come with me," she said, the offer startling them both. Her voice sounded confident and sure but there was a look on her face that didn't belong, one that was filled with trepidation and something else he couldn't quite define.

"What?"

"I'm not going to repeat myself."

"You're leaving _tomorrow_."

"So... if it was next month or maybe next week, you would come with me?"

Kyousuke stiffened and desperately thought of an answer. He knew he'd taken too long when Kirino's mouth tightened into a firm line.

"What? Kirino!" he shouted, feeling indignant as she suddenly shoved him out of the room. "What the hell is wrong with you?"

"I need to finish packing," he heard Kirino yell from the other side of the door. "You need to leave now."

"I'm not leaving until you tell me what's wrong," he firmly stated.

He heard a thud.

"Did you just kick the door?" he asked incredulously. "You did, didn't you?"

Another thud.

He turned around and leant against the door, the solidity of it against his back somehow helping him to clear his mind a bit.

"Tickets," he began, and licked his lips, feeling exceedingly nervous all of a sudden. "I- Kirino, I have a ticket."

The door suddenly flew open and if he hadn't been also partially leaning on the wall beside the door, he'd have fallen flat on his back.

"You stole my ticket?" she said, furious.

Kyousuke fervently shook his head from side to side. "No, you don't understand. I mean, I bought a ticket. A plane ticket. For me."

Kirino's eyebrows furrowed. "Where are you going?" she asked.

He hesitated for a moment before finally admitting, "America."

Kirino quickly looked him up and down. "With what money?"

"Hey!" he replied, feeling a bit affronted. "I do have some saved up, you know. Well, had. "

"When did you buy them?"

"I-"

"No, don't answer that." Kirino frowned at him. "Why?" she finally asked.

"Because..." he trailed off as he thought of how he could explain himself. "It was a spur of the moment thing." He winced as he remembered the incident. "An expensive spur of the moment thing," he added.

She shot him a frustrated but somewhat amused look. "You could have gotten it cheaper if you'd bought them earlier."

"But you just told me about this last week!"

"Mm."

Kyousuke sighed and cast his eyes upward.

"Were you ever going to tell me?"

His gaze snapped back to Kirino. "I don't know. I mean, I wasn't even sure if I was going. I just- it made me feel better, you know? It sounded right at that time," he said, well aware that he was rambling.

Kirino shifted his eyes away from him and stared hard at his hand which was gripping the door frame. "And now?" she asked eventually, still avoiding his gaze.

"I- you weren't even supposed to know," he sighed. Kirino grimaced but he continued. "My whole life is _here_, Kirino."

Kyousuke paused as he went over his last spoken words. Yes, his whole life was here. But Kirino was scheduled to leave tomorrow. And that, he concluded as his brow furrowed further, could only mean that his whole life was here _today,_ but tomorrow would be a different case entirely. Tomorrow, Kirino would be leaving, and Kyousuke would be left standing at the airport lobby, staring up at that damned airplane-

"I can't- Kirino, I can't do this," he said.

"Then don't," she bit out. He could see that she was about to shut him out again, but he pressed on before she could do so.

"No, that not what I meant. You can't leave. Stay. You have to stay," he said, rubbing his eyes wearily. He was so tired and his head was hurting, clearly uncomfortable with this sudden focus on thoughts that he'd for so many years ignored.

She finally turned his gaze toward him. "I can't. I have to go, this is-"

"Then, I'm coming with you," he cut off. He did his best to look firm and confident but his mind was jumbled full of half-formed thoughts – where was he going to stay, where would he find a job, what about his friends, Manami, and- oh god, _their_ _parents._

"I'll talk to Dad. And Mom, too," she suddenly said.

"How did you know-"

"I know you," she stated but hesitated before continuing, "At least… I think I do. Are you sure about this?"

"Yes," he said determinedly.

"Things might not always be this easy."

"I know," he replied, looking at Kirino. "We can figure it out there. I… we need more time to sort things out, Kirino. I can't just let you leave like that, not when this thing's just started and-"

"It's okay. I understand," Kirino interrupted. "Same here," she added a bit awkwardly.

Kyousuke gave a short, nervous laugh. "Good," he said, feeling incredibly relieved. "That's… good. Okay. More than okay," he said lamely and sighed.

Kirino smiled at him, obviously amused. She tilted her head slightly to one side. "Help me pack?" she asked, not waiting for his answer as she turned around and stepped back into her room.

He stared at her and wondered if he was doing the right thing. There was still time, he could still turn back and pretend that this never happened. But Kirino… she would never forgive him. And he wouldn't be able to forgive himself too if he just gave up on this. It was far from what he expected his life would be, and he wasn't naïve enough to think that there wouldn't be consequences – the possibilities of which could only be huge and disastrous. But it was what he wanted, more than anything and there was no use in denying it, and as long as Kirino wanted this too, then he needed to see it through to the end.

"Sure. But you have to help me pack later too," he said and followed her into the room.

END


End file.
